


Served with Ice

by nevercanreadenough



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Boys In Love, Enemies to Lovers, Falling In Love, Friendship, Getting Together, Getting to Know Each Other, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Lighter than it seems, M/M, Maybe - Freeform, No Rape/Non-con between Snape and Harry either, Non-Graphic Rape/Non-Con, Not Between Draco and Harry, Pureblood Society (Harry Potter), Revenge, Severus Snape Bashing, Severus Snape Being a Bastard, Slow To Update, Swearing, because author is lazy like that, but loosely, but we'll see how that goes, mildly oc characters, planning revenge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-24
Updated: 2019-10-29
Packaged: 2020-10-27 17:55:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 4
Words: 71,116
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20764532
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nevercanreadenough/pseuds/nevercanreadenough
Summary: They say a woman scorned is a terrible thing to behold. They say a woman scorned is vicious in her revenge. They say revenge is best served cold.Harry is a man.Harry likes his revenge served warm. Hot. Scorching.Harry may or may not be very seriously pissed off and has found a group of women to help him serve his revenge.Severus might want to watch out...





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Ok, important !WARNING!, I thought this was going to be a lighthearted revenge story, but it got a little dark people! I honestly have no idea how that happened and maybe I think it's dark and more than a little messed up (thanks brain) so I'm just putting it here as well that please, please read the warnings!
> 
> No beta, so any mistakes are there for keeps because I'm lazy like that.
> 
> I've been listening to a lot of r/pro-revenge stories while I cook (because I love a good story and revenge is a beautiful thing) when this little plot popped up and wouldn't let me go.  
To back story you, because I like those too ;), Voldemort died with James and Lily, Peter was found murdered in Harry's third year and as a result Sirius was set free. Harry wasn't allowed to live with him (since he wasn't all that sane) but he was allowed to visit. Sirius died in Harry's fifth year. Snape and Sirius never met and Harry never mentioned him outside of the usual 'that teacher hates my guts' to which Sirius gives (bad) advice until Harry changes the subject. It is public knowledge that Sirius and Harry are family.  
Harry is still very much Harry and gets into the same amount of trouble (without all the danger aspects) that he does in canon, just nothing Voldy related. Make of that what you will.
> 
> This was honestly supposed to be a small fic. I'm not even joking here, I legit thought it would be like 2,000 words max. I jump around a bit as well, so I'm sorry if reads a little choppy because of that. There's also no clear time-line, but I imagine its early-ish October.
> 
> ~~~***~~~ Time break/change of scene  
~~~~~~ Continuation of day/storyline

Harry was going to celebrate his one year anniversary with Severus Snape. Well, almost a year. Ok, close enough to a year. Fine. They had they been together for close to six months and Harry was in love. He thinks. He has (sort of) strong feelings for Severus in any case.

A case that he currently wouldn't like to be examined too closely as he's sat in Severus' quarters under his invisibility cloak waiting for the man himself. He's also spelled a barrage of things on/over himself just to make sure no one would be able to sense his presence (magical or otherwise) because he's only a lot cautious and technically a little underage. Which of course means a lot. As in he's sixteen turning seventeen this coming summer and Severus is his teacher and wow, he should stop thinking about it because the more he does, the worse it gets.

So what that they started to get closer when he was fifteen and still horribly messed up because Sirius had died and he needed support? Not that he's better now, mind, but he's gotten a better handle on his grief and he now understands that grieving for someone you love doesn’t have a set time frame or that the loss of that person will never really leave you. Severus was...just there for him. He had never expected it because they've never exactly had the best of relationships, but he seemed to get over that in order to support Harry in his time of need and now here they were.

Well, here he was, waiting for Severus to show up so he could spend some time with his boyfriend. Not that Severus actually _was_ his boyfriend but that was kind of the point of him showing up here unexpectedly. To have that conversation because Harry figures he's ready for something more. At the moment they've only had a few kisses because Harry was still a little unnerved about the whole 'teacher' aspect. He's cautious ok? But not today! Today he's ready and he's in this thing, both feet jumping in the deep end.

He wants this with Severus. He wants the intimacy, the connection, the love, the family, the future, all with Severus. He's ready and he can't wait to share that with the man he loves very much. Probably loves. Possibly loves. Very much likes.

His thoughts are interrupted when he heard the door opening and two voices drift his way. His happiness quickly changed into a mild panic because Severus clearly had someone with him but he couldn't say anything because they were keeping their relationship a secret. And, you know, he's actually hiding and how do you jump out of thin air and then try the old 'so sorry, I only had a question' routine. He wondered if he should try to leave and come back later but this plan was quickly foiled when Severus entered his living room following closely by Malfoy's father, making the situation about a hundred times more awkward. This might just become one of his worst plans ever, and that includes the dragon incident in his first year.

“And he's doing well?” Malfoy asked Severus, his tone light but Harry caught a sharp look that indicated he cared about the answer.

“As adequate as always. If he wishes to pursue potions as a profession he'll need to put in more effort and stop starring at Potter, but I believe that's not his intention.”

“Starring at Potter?” Malfoy asked, although by his look he knew that that wasn't what Severus had meant.

“Becoming a potions master.” Severus stated, not noticing Malfoy's little twitch and leaving Harry wondering why Malfoy had twitched at all.

He suddenly thinks that this might turn out to be fun because neither man knows he's there and he gets to have some inside information on things to throw in little Malfoy's face. Not to mention that he can surprise Severus after Malfoy leaves and he can still carry on with his plans. Which of course means wait a little while because he’s not keen on letting Severus know he’s been here the whole time. He’s not an idiot, thanks.

Malfoy grunted, something that Harry thought was a little shocking from the way he presented himself. “He hasn't voiced any desire to me either, so I doubt it's on the list.”

“And Potter? Is he on the list?” Severus asked with a knowing smirk.

Harry frowned at that. Was there something going on here? List? What list? The list to murder through annoyance and bullying before they left Hogwarts? Knowing Malfoy junior that could actually be a thing.

Malfoy scowled at Severus. “Hardly. From what I can tell the boy won't look twice at Draco, or rather, what I frequently hear from Draco. He won't stop his incessant moaning of how he's never noticed.”

They were both silent for a heartbeat as they grimaced knowingly at how often Draco spoke of Harry. Or, that's what Harry figured since they both wore the exact same expression. Which led Harry to the obvious conclusion that they were both very much insane because he notices Malfoy every day. It’s a little hard to ignore someone throwing a hex your way after all.

“Unfortunately, Narcissa seems to think it's precious and allows Draco to 'vent'.”

“I wouldn't worry about it for too long.” Severus said, smirking once more as he walked to a corner in the room that held some bottles of firewhiskey.

“Ah, yes. Your yearly 'project'. Have you bedded the boy yet?”

Harry's eyes widened in shock as his mouth dropped open. Wasn't their almost relationship supposed to be a secret? And was that a look of disgust on Malfoy's face? Hang on, yearly project? Bedded?! What the bloody hell was going on here? Why were they speaking of him like that? _Were_ they speaking of him? Was Severus _cheating_ on him?

“Sadly, no. It seems he's more of a prude than I had anticipated. I'm only thankful that Blakely and Potter overlapped enough that I was able to...take my enjoyment before this forced celibacy.” Severus said as he poured them both a generous amount of firewhiskey.

Overlapped? Blakely?? Harry was having a hard time understanding what was going on because whatever Malfoy and Severus were talking about was clearly something they spoke about often enough that neither of them needed more context, something that Harry desperately wished he had more of. At least he knew that Severus wasn't cheating on him and it was definitely about him. It wasn't as comforting as he had imagined it to be.

“Now, now, Severus, don't be shy. I'm sure the whores in Knockturn are more than satisfactory for your needs.”

Severus snorted and turned back to Malfoy with drinks in hand. “If I wanted a barrage of diseases perhaps.”

“There are potions for that.” Malfoy pointed out as he accepted a glass that Severus handed him.

“There are. They work perfectly as well.”

Malfoy laughed. “I knew you wouldn't stay celibate. What are you planning with the little Lord?”

Harry felt faint. What was going on? Little Lord? Sure, logically they hadn't said they were exclusive since that was what he wanted to talk to Severus about tonight, but hearing that he had gone to other people made him sick. Did he not care about Harry at all? When you want to be with someone you don't exactly fuck off to have sex with other people! Right? He should ask Hermione, she would know.

Severus' smile turned sharp. “After all these years, I will finally be able to crush Potter the way I've always wanted.”

Harry's world stopped and started so quickly that he felt physically ill. This was the confirmation he hadn't wanted to have. Severus was using him. Severus was using him and he didn't care at all about Harry. Was it all a lie? Why would he lie? Why would he do any of this? Why couldn't he breathe properly? Maybe it was a joke? Maybe he was just saying all of this to Malfoy to keep the man from saying anything? Severus wouldn't lie to Harry, would he? This was all a joke between them, it had to be, it _had_ to be.

Malfoy's eyebrow rose at that statement and Harry wistfully, if detachedly, hoped he would one day have the same single eyebrow raising power. “I hope you realize they are not one and the same?”

Severus rolled his eyes. “Of course but the spawn does come from the father and looks practically like his double that it will satisfy me endlessly.”

“So you do have a plan.” Malfoy stated thoughtfully.

“I intend to ruin him.”

“He is a Lord.” Malfoy pointed out.

That was the second time they had said that. Harry wished he knew what that meant because he was sure he wasn't a Lord and they were making it out to be something important. Wouldn’t he have known something important like that?

He hated how it was said as if it was significant, hated how after almost six years in this new world he still didn't know anything about it. Spells and magic were great. The history (when not taught by Binns) was fascinating. The culture? The jobs? How he was going to survive outside of these walls in the 'real world'? He knew none of that. Why wasn't there someone who would help him with that? Wasn't that what a school was supposed to be for? Your future? And not that stupid ten minute career conversation he had had with professor McGonagall in fifth year, because who’s supposed to choose the rest of your life through bloody pamphlets of all things? Was there even a wizarding university? What about apprentices? He had so many questions!

Severus laughed and interrupted Harry's downward spiral and forced him back to the conversation.

“Only if he claims his Lordship and Black was so far gone he never mentioned it to the boy. Never mentioned anything important and never trained him in the ways of our world.”

Malfoy frowned at that. “How do you know that? I didn't realize you knew Black was the boy's godfather.”

“I've questioned the boy myself. He has no idea of his heritage or his power. Once he turns seventeen and he doesn't claim his Lordship...” Severus left off with a shrug and a sharper smile. “I knew because it was all over the papers at the time, it was rather hard to miss. Besides, the knowledge that the mutt is twisting in his grave at what I'm doing to his godson is quite the reward.”

Harry was only viciously glad that he hadn't actually done anything with Severus because the levels of betrayal he was currently feeling would only have made him feel more devastated than he already was. He just couldn't handle or understand what he was hearing. Was this real? This didn’t seem like an inside joke anymore and the more he heard, the worse it got. Why did he still have hope that it was all a joke and that they knew he was in the room? He didn't want to know more, didn't want to know the magnitude of betrayal, ignorance, and pure stupidity that had led him here.

How was he supposed to just walk away from all of this? From _Severus_? From the man who had shown him kindness when no one had cared, the man who had shown him what a kiss really was, what it felt like to want to spend time with someone you were falling for, the man who had accepted him at his best and worst and had helped him even when he denied needing help.

Was he even allowed to ask questions? Demand answers? Why had Severus done this to him? Was it all just a game? Had he deliberately chosen Harry so he could ‘ruin’ him?

Harry held back a sob through sheer power of will. How was he supposed to survive this?

“It is illegal to withhold knowledge of this magnitude.” Malfoy pointed out with a small frown, ignoring what Severus had said about Sirius.

Why did Severus even know about Sirius? Sure he had helped Harry work through his passing, but both of them made it seem like it had been more than that, as if Severus would have known Sirius outside of Harry. That wasn’t right, though, Severus would have said something. Unless…unless that’s how Severus had started. Unless that’s how- Harry gagged at the thought. He couldn’t go down that road right now, not while he was still in the open and vulnerable. Not when they were still providing damning evidence.

Severus hummed. “Perhaps. However, it is neither my duty nor my place to inform him.”

“You are his teacher, never mind his...significant other.” Malfoy stated in a delicate sort of way.

“I will admit to being his teacher, but I'm not in a relationship with him.”

“Would he say that?” Malfoy challenged, and Harry wondered how it could possibly be challenged. He hadn't read the signals wrong had he? Severus may have planned this, but you couldn’t fake emotions like that. Could you?

“He's an obsessed student, wallowing in his grief for the only magical family member he has ever had and misconstrued our relationship”. Severus stated as he spread his palms in a 'what can you do' way.

Harry stared blankly at the man he thought he had known so well. Who was standing in front of him now and twisting everything they had had so well. Who was making their relationship into something dark and sick and disgusting. How had it gotten so far? How had Harry allowed this to happen? Had he missed the signs? How could he have possibly been so…so _blind_ of Severus’ true intentions?

“And if they demand memories?” Malfoy asked.

“Mine are just as real as his.”

The frown was back. “What, exactly, do you intend to do?”

“Ruin him.” Severus stated with a grin so large it hurt Harry to see. The man he had come to see today, to confess his feelings to, wasn’t the man in front of him right now. The man in front of him now was a vile, disgusting, evil man who cared nothing for Harry.

“So you've said. That's not easily done. The boy is the darling of the wizarding world.”

“He's the darling who has become obsessed with his potions professor and sent him several racy pictures. Who has sent his professor love notes.”

Ok now, that was a gross exaggeration, Harry thought appalled. Racy pictures? He sent the man _one_ picture of him laughing (a picture that Colin had taken of him some time ago that he'd really liked) because the man had asked for it and he had put it in a box with other things and even said he’d treasure it. Although, now that he thought about it without looking at it through his relationship eyes, a student sending his teacher a picture was...odd. It was in no way racy and it wouldn't hurt his reputation in any way (just his pride) but he suddenly understood how easy it was to change the narrative. How it would be so easy to make Harry believe one thing while Severus' own actions would show another. How easy it had been to maneuver Harry into this position. He felt stupid and used and naive. He should have known better! Why didn't he know better? How could he have missed the signs? The man _must_ have slipped once or twice. Had Harry really been so self-absorbed that he hadn’t noticed a thing?

“Who is _underage_.” Malfoy stressed, seemingly a little concerned. Though what he was concerned about was beyond Harry at that moment.

Severus shrugged in disregard and didn't see the flash of disgust come over Malfoy's face again. “Once it comes out how deep his obsession has gone, no one will want the boy.”

“You may damage him socially, but he will eventually recover.” Malfoy pointed out.

“Perhaps on the surface. I intend to have the boy fall in love with me.”

Harry felt tears silently fall down his face as the implications hit him hard. It had been a game, all of it, every single second, every touch, every gesture, a game. He wanted to ruin Harry, make him pay for some unknown reason and to do it all, he needed Harry to fall in love with him. He was glad, suddenly fiercely glad, that he had come tonight and had heard it straight from Severus himself. He doubted he would have believed it if it had been anyone else. Glad that he never even had the chance to tell the man intent on ruining him that his plans were working. He had been so stupid, so so unbelievably stupid!

Malfoy suddenly became still. “Ah. You intend to damage him emotionally.”

“I intend to humiliate him as his father humiliated me. If the brat thinks I could ever love him,” Severus smiled, “well, who's to say otherwise?”

“Severus.” Malfoy started, uneasily. “He's a boy, not much older than Draco. Younger, if I remember correctly.”

Severus became angry. “You never had a problem with my earlier trysts.”

“You've never intended to damage them in such a way.”

“The boy deserves it!”

“His father deserves it.” Malfoy stressed, and boy did Harry not see that coming.

Was the man actually trying to help? Well, help was a rather broad term, but it seemed to him like he didn't exactly agree with what was going on. From the conversation earlier, that was quite the upheaval.

Severus sneered. “He may as well be his father. He's as arrogant, as stupid, as bullying, as that git.”

“And what of Lily?” Malfoy asked, changing the subject slightly.

“What of Lily?” He snapped.

“If I do recall how one makes a child, the mother is responsible for a great deal.”

“The only good thing she gave him are his eyes.” Severus said dismissively.

The man didn't care about him. Harry closed his eyes as his heart thudded in his chest and his world collapsed around him. His _eyes_? That's the only thing Severus liked about him? Something that happened to be his mother's too? This didn't make any sense! They had been secretly almost-dating for six months and Severus had nothing good to say about him in all that time? Arrogant? Stupid? A bully? Did Severus even know him at all? It became clearer with every word spoken that he had never known who the real Severus was.

And his father. His father!

Knowing the reason that Severus hated him so much he was willing to ruin Harry’s life didn’t help Harry in the least. Harry had never known his father, had no memories of the man. Only pictures and stories others would occasionally tell him in an off-hand sort of way. So the knowledge that it was his father at the heart of all of it? Why did Severus even care? The man was dead. Had been for over a decade and had absolutely no relevance to their relationship. Why did he have relevance in Severus’ life? What was so…important, so vital that Severus was willing to break one person’s entire existence over a dead man? Why was it necessary to punish Harry for something his _very dead_ father had done? Something Harry couldn’t even ask about!

He should probably stop saying 'Severus' he realized. This was far too much information for him to process tonight, far too much emotion for him to shift through. He looked up at Sev-Snape, looked up and watched him, his movements, his dismissive gestures whenever Harry’s name came up, the refusal to use his name.

Well, Harry thought as he tried to pull himself together, Snape was right about one thing: Harry had fallen for the man and he was distraught. He couldn't for the life of him imagine what this would feel like on top of Snape revealing his lies to the world.

If there was one thing he was infinitely grateful for right at this very moment, it was that he was intensely private person. Nobody knew of his 'relationship' with Snape, no one knew he was even _in_ a bloodly relationship. Well, Hermione might have an idea but he was sure no one else did.

Harry knew he couldn't sit here and break down but he couldn't make himself move. He couldn't feel anything except devastation and loss and so much hurt. Why didn't Snape like him? Didn't those hours together mean anything? Didn't their kisses mean anything to him? Didn't Harry's heart mean anything to him? Why was he doing this? Why wasn't Harry enough for him? Oh god, he felt sick. Snape had lied to him and the man wasn't even finished playing his twisted game with Harry. Merlin, what was he going to do?

First thing first: compartmentalize. He could break down later, but the most essential issue now was to leave. He looked around the room he had spent hours in, had memories of moments he thought he would cherish forever and realized that he couldn't actually leave. There was only one very shut door in and out of the room and neither Malfoy nor Snape seemed in any hurry to part ways. In fact, as Harry tuned back into the conversation, it seemed that they intended to stay for a while yet.

Which didn't suit him at all. Merlin but did he not want to be in this room right now.

He spent the next few minutes going over all of his possible escape scenarios (all of which ended with him getting caught or the good old 'ghost' routine that would never work), when there was a loud knocking on the door. Snape stood up with an exasperated grunt and an off-hand comment about annoying children. Sensing a way out (of this room at least and that was one step further than he had been and thus a win) he quickly followed Snape as he strode through his teacher's study and into his classroom where he opened the classroom door.

Harry inched his way around a looming and glaring potions professor as he barked at a terrified second year. The second year squeaked through an explanation as Harry judged Snape's distance from the door and the possibility that he could simply slip by the man. He grimaced in uncertainty because it would work, but he would have to twist into uncomfortable positions and he would need to do it quickly because Snape was rapidly losing patience with the poor terrified second year.

As Harry put his back to the wall next to the door and inched his way quickly around the door post so he could avoid hitting Snape in any way, he took a moment to ponder the fact that a second year Slytherin was practically too out-of-his-mind terrified to speak to his head of house. He knew without a doubt that Snape hated teaching and hated children in almost equal measure, but he had thought that he was at least...less horrible to his own house. It had always seemed that way to him at least, but that was probably mostly because he gave his students the most points. He had never actually observed the man interact with his students in a one-on-one situation.

Glancing at the second year, he realized neither of them were doing well when it came to Snape. Which really wasn't the best thought to be having when he was supposed to be focusing on his escape. Something that became instantly harder when the poor second year jumped a little as Snape barked out a sentence in a tone that scared even Harry and now he had to either jump out of the way and bump into the second year or have a door slam on half his body.

It wasn't even a choice.

He quickly jumped out of the doorway and did a dance he was extremely happy nobody could see to avoid the second year as the door slammed behind him. Of course it was just his luck that he couldn't actually completely miss the Slytherin and awkwardly bumped into him at the same time the door slammed shut. The resulting scream the poor Slytherin gave as Harry lurched into him was therefore mildly hidden by the slamming of the door and could be misconstrued as a scream of shock because of the aforementioned slamming door.

Harry collapsed on the stone floor in a sigh of great relief as he heard small feet run away from him before he realized he couldn't stay there. He gathered himself and made his way back to his common room, passing by the Slytherin he had frightened (guilt for frightening him had set in as the need for self-preservation wore off) he saw that a group of them had gathered together to comfort one of their own.

“I told you he wouldn't care!”

“Not now Lyra! Can't you see he needs a hug?”

“I thought he was supposed to care about us?”

“Didn't you hear the upper years? He hates us! It was stupid to even try.”

Harry turned a corner and the soft chattering became a low hum of noise as he walked up the stairs. It wasn't often that Harry was as calculating as he was vicious, but today he had the right temperament. Today he was angry. Today he felt heartbroken and betrayed and beyond furious. That bastard wanted to ruin him? Wanted him to suffer for something his father had done? Wanted to emotionally damage him?

Ok then.

He was willing to play.

He grinned fiercely as he climbed the stairs while he wiped away a few stubborn tears that had refused to stay put.

Let the games begin.

~~~***~~~

So planning on getting someone back for something they've done to you that you know of but shouldn't when they don't know you know yet is actually a lot harder than it looked, Harry concluded as he stared at Snape while he lectured them about something or other. And if he had made that any more complicated he wasn't sure he would ever have a plan because he would be too busy trying to figure out what he had just said. Either way, here he was, a month later and still no closer to figuring out what he should do.

Sure, he had a list. One that had taken a large amount of research and many a concerned looks from Ron (who thought he'd finally gone crazy), and Hermione's proud yet worried looks (since he'd never voluntarily opened a book in his life).

  1. <strike> Figure out what a Lord is.</strike>
  2. <strike> Figure out how to become a Lord (because it turned out it was actually important).</strike>
  3. Claim his Lordship.

So, the first and most problematic point on his list was his Lordship. He had learned a lot of information in a short amount of time and still wasn't completely sure what it all meant. He knew one thing for sure, though, and that was that he wasn't allowed to ask anyone. Or, actually, he was allowed to but once it got around that he knew of his Lordship then it would get back to Snape and he didn't want that.

The other reason was that once he asked someone, say Neville, then Magic would recognize that he knew of his Lordships and...something would happen. He wasn't completely sure what because long words and boring words and complicated words, but it wasn't good. So the only option he had was to look it up himself (which clearly had mixed results). The one obvious thing that he was sure of was that he had to first claim his Lordship in front of the goblins and then go to the Ministry and have them acknowledge that he had taken up the mantle of his House.

Because Rules.

Boy, was there a lot of information about taking up the mantle of a House. Harry had thought it was more of a symbolic thing, something that people would look at and understand he decided to become a part of their world, but it turned out it was actually work. The Noble House of Potter wasn't just a title, it was votes in the Wizengamont, it was investments and upkeep, it was taking care of his ancestral home and every life form that lived there. It was responsibilities and power. Merlin _fuck_.

What it also meant was that he would be protected, like he should have been as a child but hadn't been. Sirius, as Snape alluded, hadn't told him any of this, but he had told Harry several things that made Harry wonder if Sirius hadn't thought Harry already knew these things. In hindsight it made a certain amount of sense. Who would believe he hadn't known these things? He was sure several of his schoolmates knew he didn't know but, as he figured out himself, couldn't actually tell him because of the 'very bad thing' that might happen.

So. He would read everything he could and prepare himself as best he could before Christmas, Yule (ha! See, he _was_ learning!), came around and he went to the bank. It wasn't much, but knowing where he started from, it was better than nothing.

  1. Destroy Snape.

Simple statement, difficult to execute. Where did he start? How would he go about it? How far would he take it? These weren't easy questions and nothing that could be answered quickly. The one thing he knew for certain was that he wanted to get Snape sacked. The git deserved that at the very least. Besides, if what he had heard was correct, he had been doing this sort of thing for years, and if that didn't make him feel that much more unnerved, well, he didn't know what would.

So, first thing first: find Blakely. He wasn't sure how to go about doing that, but if there was one thing he did know was that Snape liked underage students. Merlin, Harry had been _fifteen_ when Snape had started in on him and now that he thought about it, it was beyond horrifying. Even if the students he had chosen had been of age, he would have had to have started in on them while they were underage. He built up their trust so slowly that he made it seem natural.

It meant, if nothing else, that he would be 'retired' from his position because while not quite illegal (since they would have been of age when anything intimate happened) it was highly unethical. If anything came of his allegations that is, because as of right now it was his word against Snape's and Harry knew that despite his position in the Wizarding world that it simply wasn't going to be enough. Snape had plans in place after all. Who was to say he couldn’t turn it all around on Harry?

This brought him to his back-up plan: the way he treated his students. Everyone knew he was a surly bastard who hated children but the teachers seemed to think it was...normal? Perhaps they didn't quite see how he was with the students but one thing was clear: he had to go. Harry was certain of that. Well, if you took away the personal part of his revenge plot and focused on how terrible a teacher Snape actually was.

Oh sure, he was brilliant with potions and there could be an argument or two on how his strict demeanor prevented children from accidentally blowing up other students or themselves but in all honesty? He didn't have to go about it the way he did. He didn't have to demean children; he didn't have to make them their boggarts; he didn't have to make whole years of students not take N.E.W.T. potions because they didn't want to deal with him. That was just bad teaching. He wanted Snape gone for each and every one of the little first and second year student in all the houses who where too terrified to go to him when they had a problem. McGonagall may be somewhat stern and a little aloof at times, but he was always certain he could go to her if he had a problem.

So if part one of his plan was to protect himself from Snape's eventual 'tell all' (and subsequent ruining of his life, of course), and part two of the plan was to get him fired, was there a third part? Or rather, was it enough to just get him fired? Because if Harry was being honest, it was the very least he could do to Snape. Essentially, Snape could still open a shop somewhere and sell potions or do a myriad of things that would allow him to breathe the same air as Harry. Did Harry really want to completely destroy Snape? Did he want to destroy Snape's reputation like Snape had wanted to do to him?

Harry frowned a little as he came back to the real world and watched Snape smirk nastily at Neville as he asked the boy something which Neville was clearly unable to answer.

“And you, Potter?” Snape asked him. Well, asked was a nice word for the tone and look Snape had sent his way.

Harry blinked as he stared at Snape, still unable to rectify to himself that he had been so blind as to fall in possible love with this hateful man. “Eh?”

“The answer, Potter.” Snape sneered at him and in that moment Harry finally saw what he hadn't let himself see in the month since he knew the truth.

Snape actually, completely, and totally hated him. It wasn't an act he put on as he claimed before, it wasn't a ruse so others wouldn't find out about their relationship, it was a way in which Snape could both be himself in his hatred for Harry and use the excuse so he could play the part of a love interest later. Harry also understood that during all of his thinking the past month, all of the tears and the hurt and heartbreak, that right now in this moment, he hadn't fallen for Snape as much as he thought he had.

He had been on the cusp of something, that was definite. He had wanted to make that leap with Snape because he felt as if they could have been more, that maybe he could start feeling more, but he had never actually fallen as far as he had thought. It was, now at least, a relief. That didn't mean that he hadn't felt like love would have been a possibility. He had had feelings. He had really liked Snape, had let Snape be intimate with him in a way he had never been with another person.

The hurt had been real, the pain had been real, and the betrayal had been real.

And boy, was the _anger_ real.

“The Pythagorean Theorem.” Harry stated on a whim. “Sir.” He added because he really wanted to piss Snape the fuck off. It was only a little petty revenge, but it already felt fantastic!

The silence that followed was something that Harry had never felt before and would cherish forever. There was a lot of confused silence (Purebloods), a little shocked I-can't-believe-you-did-that silence (he blamed that one mostly on Hermione since she turned in her chair to stare at him mouth hanging open and everything), and stunned I-think-you're-crazy-but-you've-got-some-balls silence (Ron didn't even blink through his stare). Harry felt himself become a little lucky to be distracted by Snape's outraged I-might-kill-you face by a choked noise coming from behind him. He broke eye contact with Snape to peer behind him just in time to see Dean become the reddest he'd ever seen while trying to stop himself from laughing. If it was any other class, Harry would have bet money on the fact that he would have laughed out loud, but seeing as it was Snape's class...well, no one wanted to be on his radar.

“Detention Potter!” Snape hissed angrily at him.

“That seems fair.” Harry nodded in agreement. Really, he expected much worse for his cheek and knowing Snape it was bound to end up this way. Plus, he had totally won.

“And fifty points!” Snape almost screamed at him.

Harry unexpectedly realized something funny: Snape never really yelled at anyone. He sneered, he snarled, he glared, he breathed like a terrible Balrog, but he never actually yelled. The fact that Harry had gotten him this close was something of a personal win in his opinion. Two wins in one day, he was doing great!

Now he had a new added goal to his number two plan: make Snape crazy. Just because he couldn't actually do anything just yet didn't mean he had to sit back and do nothing at all.

His buoyant mood lasted about as long as it took for class to end, which in Harry's opinion wasn't very long at all because he wanted to bask in his minor victory just a little longer.

“Merlin Harry!” Ron said as they left the room, a touch of awe in his voice that Harry discovered he quite liked.

“What was that?” Hermione hissed, coming up behind them and clearly distraught over what had just happened. In all fairness, Harry usually never lost it like that on Snape, not since Sirius.

“Mate, that was amazing!” Dean crowed in glee, clapping him on the back. “I've never seen him almost lose it like that!”

“Harry, that was the stupidest thing you've ever done and I've seen you do some stupid things.” Seamus stated shaking his head and he walked up next to Dean.

“We've seen him do stupider things.” Hermione said with a sad sigh of lost hope.

“Oi!” Harry yelped at her, very much insulted. “It's hardly my fault he got that angry! The man hates me!”

And he may or may not have intentionally prodded the git because of a secret relationship no one knew about that was actually fake because Snape was intentionally trying to seduce him so he could enact a larger ruin-Harry-for-life plan. It was all in the fine print really.

“Course it's your fault mate”. Ron said, dropping his arm around Harry's shoulders and beaming at him. “You’re Harry Potter!”

Harry just sighed. It wasn't exactly like he could tell them the truth, now could he?

“It was nice to see though”. Neville piped up. Harry turned to look at him and gave him a lopsided smile when their eyes met.

As both of them had been on Snape's bad side since the very beginning, they had formed their own bond when it came to passing Snape's classes. Frankly, if Harry hadn't needed the N.E.W.T. and Neville's grandmother hadn't pushed him to improve his grade, neither one of them would have started their little study group of survival. Neville helped Harry understand the importance of each plant and how they could work together while Harry helped Neville calm down and breathe enough to make a proper potion without the fear of abject failure. It was, honestly, the only reason either of them had gotten as far as they had. If it had been Snape looming over them during the exams, neither one would have passed. So after watching Snape terrorize Neville again, he figured it was just nice to be able to watch someone get under Snape's skin for a change.

Out of the corner of his eye he caught Malfoy glaring at Ron and then glaring at him. If what Malfoy Sr. had said was true, then Malfoy jr. was...in love with him? It was both an interesting thought and a terrifying one because it made a whole lot of sense but was also impossible because the blond git had bullied him since their first year. Not to mention the whole 'mudblood' thing and the hatred he harbored for anything Weasley related. All that aside though, did he even feel the same way about Malfoy? At the moment, no, but could he? It was something else he needed to figure out.

All the insanity aside, the first part of his mission would definitely have to be getting those damn letters and his picture back from Snape. Then hope to any deity out there that the bastard wasn't clever enough to make duplicates.

Who was he kidding? He was Harry Potter, of course there were duplicates!

~~~***~~~

In the weeks since his unfortunate outburst in class and him trying to find more information on his possible Lordship (nothing, there was literally nothing there because wizards apparently didn’t need to do silly things like write information down), Harry had also taken the time to stop fighting with Malfoy in order watch him more often. And yes, he was fully aware of how creepy that sounded, but it wasn't like this was something that was easily talked about. It was Malfoy after all. As a matter of fact, he had had to seriously re-evaluate every single encounter he had with Malfoy and had spent many a night awake trying to figure out how the bloody hell he was supposed to have ever known that Malfoy was even interested, because it sure did look like the other man hated his guts.

Having had the time to deal with all of his possible-love feelings for Snape, Harry was left with a large amount of time to observe Malfoy and any potential feelings he could have for the other boy.

Not examining him in the way of them fighting (or Malfoy laughing at him, taunting him, generally making his life miserable) but watching him when the other boy didn't know or realize Harry was paying attention to him. Did that mean he wasn't still working through his feelings concerning Snape? No, but it wasn't like he was going to fall for Malfoy either, no matter how good he looked when he genuinely laughed, or when he smiled that smile where he thought something was funny but he was trying not to let it show.

Ok fine, it was even creepier than it sounded.

Needless to say, they had just finished Charms and were headed to their common room before dinner when Ron accidentally bumped into a Slytherin and before he knew what had happened, it had turned into pure chaos. Malfoy was yelling at Ron and Ron was yelling back at Malfoy and Harry just wanted to see if Snape and Malfoy's father had been right. If he had really been that oblivious for all these years and that Malfoy really was...what? In love with him? Holding a serious crush? Wanted to be his friend? This, he figured, was the perfect opportunity to find out.

In all the mess that was going on with the two groups, Harry just stared at Malfoy as he thought of the best way to accomplish this enormous feat. It wasn't like he could actually ask the other boy could he? Besides all the yelling and, well let's be honest, animosity between the two of them, Harry seriously doubted Malfoy would be truthful if Harry simply asked him.

So. That meant trying to be sneaky. He could do sneaky. He was the sneakiest person to ever sneak and oh boy, he was still staring at Malfoy and now the bloke was staring at him as if he had spontaneously grown a second head. Harry mentally shrugged because, hey, not impossible when magic was involved. He had half an urge to check (just in case) but let that go for the moment.

“What Potter?” Malfoy spat at him, his temper obviously getting the better of him. “Think you're so special-“

“Hi.” Harry interrupted, still staring at Malfoy because he figured if that was what made Malfoy pay attention, then that's what he was going to continue to do. And wow, did Malfoy know he had little flecks of green in his eyes? Because that was just pretty.

Harry also realized the noise around them gradually got softer as more people noticed something odd going on. Mainly that Harry was still staring at Malfoy and not in an I'm-going-to-curse-you-so-hard type of way either. Well, sometimes a plan comes together without you even trying, so Harry was just going to go with the flow.

“-just because you have that stupid scar- I- what?” Malfoy stopped in confused anger. He blinked a couple of times before he turned to his friend who just shrugged in bemusement.

“Hi.” Harry repeated, giving the other boy a small smile when he turned back to Harry. There was a slight murmur coming from the two groups that Harry chose to ignore since this was the best plan he had ever not-planned. He couldn't wait to tell Hermione!

“I-um, I'm- what's going on?” Malfoy asked, floundering a little as his cheeks turned pink as Harry continued to stare at him with an intensity that Harry was sure made several people very uncomfortable. Not to mention how Ron was gaping at him in horror.

Harry smiled a little wider as Malfoy started to fluster under the attention and his eyes started to dart down to the floor and back up at Harry with a speed that was a little impressive.

“Ok. Bye.” Harry said, his voice a little deeper as he tried to keep in his laughter when Malfoy's blush turned a deeper shade of red he thought actually looked very flattering on the other boy.

“Huuuuu.” Malfoy breathed out when the boy next to him jabbed him in the ribs with his elbow.

Harry kept his laughter in until he turned the corner, turning his head around and meeting Malfoy's eyes and giving him a blinding smile just as he turned the corner. He quickly cast a silencing charm and ran as quickly as he could to Gryffindor tower where he burst into uncontrollable laughter and startled Hermione enough to wonder what the hell was wrong with one of her best friends.

~~~~~~

Trying to not tell Hermione Granger something she wanted you to tell her was like giving a toddler candy, having him eat half of it and then taking it back and not expect a tantrum. Some things were just inevitable. So when he spent the better part of ten minutes (a record to be sure) holding out and denying anything was wrong while she kept poking (impressive since she was gently brushing Crookshanks) because she knew something was actually wrong, he caved. At least now he knew he could never be a criminal because if he couldn't hold out against Hermione, he'd fold to anyone who asked. Although, come to think of it, maybe that meant he'd be a good criminal? Something to think on later.

Needless to say, he spilled his guts. All of them. About Snape, about Malfoy (senior) about what Snape had been doing, about Sirius, and about Malfoy (junior). When he finished, and after making sure they were spelled in the utmost secret bubble of silence that had ever been created (because he wasn’t stupid and there were far too many ears around for his liking) he waited for her to snap out of her shocked horror and help him figure out what to do. Clearly he need the help since he’d been at this close to two months and hadn’t gotten very far at all.

“Merlin Harry, that's...I don't even know if I have words for that.” Hermione told him, looking all sorts of bewildered, terrified, and angry. The longer she thought about it, the angrier she seemed to get and frankly, Harry just appreciated someone being angry on his behalf. “That's...if he had actually had sex with you, that would have been rape, you realize that right?”

Harry sighed deeply. “I don't think he would have, not until I was of age. And,” he interrupted her before she could say anything, “I would have consented whole heartedly. You know I would have.”

She sighed and deflated before nodding her head. “Yes, I know. Though it still would have been rape, regardless of whether or not you consented. Not to mention the moral side of it all, let alone the legality of it.”

“Is it? What exactly had he done that's illegal?” He wasn't even going to bother arguing with her about morals or rape because he knew how terrible this was, what with it happening to him and all.

“He's grooming you!” Hermione whispered at him harshly. If she had had a book with her, she would have hit him over the head with it. Thankfully she had finished brushing Crookshanks and she wasn't about to hit him with a cat. He bet she had thought of it though, evil queen that she was. He was only glad she had forgotten about the brush.

Harry winced. “Yes, ok, that, but legally speaking, he hasn't done anything that, in the muggle world, he would have been imprisoned for. Or the wizarding one for that matter. I checked.”

“He's been-“ Hermione practically screamed.

“Nice to me.” Harry interrupted. “Ever since Sirius died, he has been there for me. He helped me through a difficult time in my life. Maybe I misconstrued his intentions while he was only being kind. Maybe it was all in my head and I latched on to the only adult who was there for me in a difficult situation.”

Hermione turned pale. “Oh Merlin.”

Harry gave her a pained smile. “Yep.”

“How are you not freaking out?” She asked a little dumbfounded.

“I've had some time to process all of this.”

“I’m sorry you had to go through this by yourself.” Hermione said sadly, as she reached out to grab his hand and giving it a squeeze before dropping it again.

Harry gave her a half-hearted smile. “Thank you for being here with me now.”

“Did he...”she hesitated, “did he kiss you?” She asked as though she didn't really want to know the answer and Harry quite understood.

“Several times.” He answered with a short nod.

“But that just proves that he was leading you on! That could get him thrown in prison!” Hermione whispered as her eyes darted around the empty room even though they had both spelled their little corner to the high heavens.

Harry snorted. “Sure, but could you prove that it wasn't a kiss on the head? A kiss on the cheek? Could you prove it wasn't consensual? And I'm pretty sure the only thing that could get him thrown into prison would be him actually having sex with me while I was underage.”

“So he was going to wait?” Hermione asked, perplexed.

“Yep. Pretty sure I wasn't the first he did this too either.”

“Merlin Harry. Even when you don't find yourself in the middle of a mystery, you somehow find yourself in the middle of a mystery! Not even the good kind.” She lamented quietly as if what she had really wanted was a nice murder mystery.

Harry chuckled. “I'm just glad I found out before we went any further.”

Hermione's eyes widened in realization. “_That's_ why you set him off in potions!”

This time Harry did laugh. “Yeah, I think I was still angry.”

“Who wouldn't be?” She asked ruefully. “So what do you want to do now?”

“Revenge.” Harry stated promptly. “I want that bastard to pay for even thinking he could do this to me. I mean, yes, technically he didn't get that far, but given the chance he would have. I'm not about to stand around and let it happen, not to me and not to anyone else. I also can't let him know I know because then I have no idea what he would do and frankly, that's just terrifying. He's very set on seeing me ruined and I’d very much like to be one step ahead of him at all times.”

“Right. Revenge then. You mentioned another person?”

Harry nodded. “Blakely. No idea if it's a man or woman but I do know that they graduated just last year. Snape said we overlapped a little. Made it seem like he did have sex with them while he, um, groomed me.”

Hermione looked pained. “He's a terrible person but he knows his subject, practically the best there is. I never thought he'd be this-this...”

“Awful? No offense Hermione, but if he can hold on to a grudge for more than eleven years and then throw that grudge onto a child that never even knew his parents, the man is a prick.”

“Harry!” Hermione gasped in shock before she giggled.

“He is though!” Harry defended himself, smiling at her as he watched her laugh.

“So.” Hermione started once she had gathered herself again. “We find someone called Blakely, first or last name, male or female, and then what?”

“Um. Talk to them? I'm not really sure where I want this revenge to go other than the fact that I want him kicked out of the school. If we have more evidence, then we can get him kicked out on moral grounds. The school’s governors are all made up of the parents of children who go to this school. There is no way any one of them would vote to keep him in if there's a chance that he might do it to their child.”

Hermione sighed. “Idiots. Instead of doing it to keep the children safe like any normal person would. So we need Blakely for evidence, and then?”

“To begin with, we talk to them. From there, well, maybe they say something that gives us a direction to look for the others? Maybe give us more evidence and shape this thing as we go along.” Harry replied with a shrug.

She nodded thoughtfully. “You said he had a box of trinkets?”

Harry cringed at the memory of giving Snape a photograph of himself. “Yeah, don't know where he keeps it though and finding Blakely will probably be easier than getting into Snape's private quarters again.”

“How did you manage to get in there in the first place?” Hermione asked with interest.

Harry shrugged. “Found a loophole in his warding.” He watched his best friend warily as her jaw dropped and she simply stared at him. “What?” He asked incredibly uncomfortable.

“You...you found a loophole in his warding?” She asked, her voice getting higher with every word.

“Yes?” He asked unsurely.

“Harry, do you even know-you know what? No, not important, I'll just tell you later. Do you think you could get back in through that loophole?”

Harry chewed his bottom lip in thought. “I think so. If he doesn't mention anything about it later during detention, then I think I got away with it. Mostly because I didn't need the loophole to get back out again which probably helped. I doubt it's going to work more than once though, so when I do try again I don't think I'll get another shot.”

Hermione sucked in a deep breath before letting it out again. “Right. Let's not get this wrong then. We keep an eye out for Snape's habits and find the most optimal moment where you can spend a few hours searching and then getting the evidence. In the meantime, we find out who Blakely is and then track them down somehow. An owl would be the most helpful but without a full name it wouldn’t work so we'll cross that bridge when we get to it. Hopefully Blakely will know something to help us, even if it's the name of the person before them. _If_ there is a person before them.” She amended after a thoughtful pause.

Harry stared at Hermione with such affection that he couldn't help but to smile at her. It warmed him a little that she just jumped into situations like this with him with little thought. That she stood behind him and with him without taking a breath. He couldn't describe how much it meant to him that even one person on this earth gave their trust to him in that manner. It was something he deeply cherished and he vowed to himself that he would try his best to live up to the trust she had given him.

“What's that look for?” Hermione asked, bringing him back to the conversation.

“Hm? Oh, just thinking how much I love you for helping me with this.”

She smiled at him with what he thought was the same amount of affection he that he had. “Of course I would Harry. You're my best friend. I'll always stand with you.”

“Always?” He asked before he could stop himself.

She reached out and grabbed one of his hands in hers. “And forever”. She stated giving it a tight squeeze before letting go. “Now, about detention tonight.”

Harry groaned theatrically. “Nooo! Do we have to talk about that?”

“We do, because we need a plan of action. If we give him too much time he'll simply try and move up his timeline and we don't want that. So, how do we stall him?”

Harry hummed in thought. “I don't know.”

They were interrupted by a very disgruntled Ron who plopped down next to Hermione before looking from one friend to the other. So much for their silence bubble of greatness, Harry thought with just a touch of resentment.

“What are you two doing?” Ron asked, suspicion in his voice as he sat slightly closer to Hermione than strictly necessary.

“Thinking of things Snape really hates.” Harry said without thinking as he wondered how Ron had popped their magic bubble and if he had, could anyone have done it?

“Oh that's easy.” Ron scoffed, relaxing slightly and distracting Harry enough to wonder what on earth he thought they had been doing.

“How is that easy?” Hermione asked, a little miffed at Ron for thinking...well, whatever Ron was thinking that Hermione clearly had caught onto.

“Well, besides Neville, Harry, children in general, Harry, teaching, and Harry, there's only one thing he bangs on about and that's how much he hated Harry's dad.”

Both Hermione and Harry stared at Ron in disbelief before turning to each other.

“You don't think it would be that easy do you?” Harry asked, incredulity evident in his voice.

“Well, now that Ron's mentioned it, he does say it an awful lot.” Hermione said slowly.

“Not all that much lately, but yeah.” Ron inserted, his eyes darting from one friend to the other. “What, exactly, is going on here?”

“Alright then, you know what you have to do then.” Hermione said as she shook herself out of her thoughts.

“I do?” Harry asked, wondering what he had missed.

“You do. You need to ask Snape if he knew your father.” She said with an air of determination that Harry envied her for.

"I can’t do that!" Harry cried out in horror. "I already told you that he did! Fuck! Hermione, he’s been doing all of this _because_ of my father, and now you want me to…” Harry trailed off in disbelief.

“Oi! Are you two even listening to me?” Ron asked, aggravated and turning slightly red.

“Yes, yes, Ron, we know you're here! We need to save Harry from the worst detention in history first!” Hermione groused, angry that he had distracted her from the real issue.

“Oh.” Ron said, deflating a little. “Right, no, of course, that makes sense. Impending doom and all. Carry on.”

“I’m not saying this out of the blue. The best way to keep him away from you is to bring up the one thing he would be sure you know nothing about. _He doesn’t know you know_, Harry. And why would you? It’s not like either of you have had conversations about the..him.” Hermione stated with a pointed look.

“So I just blurt out 'hey, Snape, fun story, did you know my dad' like that wouldn't make him kill me?” Harry asked sarcastically.

“Of course not you idiot!” Hermione griped, thoroughly fed up with people who didn't listen. “You casually bring up in conversation that Ron brought something up that made you think. Then you blurt out, in that way you do-”

“What way?!” Harry interrupted outraged. Ron merely gave him a half hearted shrug while Hermione glared at him for his interruption.

“-that maybe you think Snape knew your father and if he did, did that mean that he had pictures or stories about him. Now, if that doesn't work, throw your mother in there.”

“My mother?” Harry asked more confused than ever. “What does she have to do with this?”

“His mother?” Ron asked at the same time, a similar confusion on his features.

“Of course his mother! They were in the same year and in the same house. It only makes sense that if Snape hung about Harry's father that he would have, at the very least, come into contact with his mother. So the objective is to bombard him with uncomfortable questions, enough that he'll want to avoid you for some time and give you the space you need for part one of the operation.”

“Two.” Harry said absently as he thought over the insane plan that would probably get him killed.

“Part one of the operation? What the bloodly hell are you two up to?” Ron asked, suspicion back in his voice as his eyes jumped from Hermione to Harry.

Hermione looked at Harry for permission so he shrugged his acceptance. “Only Ron though.” He clarified before turning to Ron. “And you have to swear right here and now that you won't mention this to another soul. I can't have you messing this up for me, Ron. This could affect my whole future and I'll take you down with me if I have to.” He threatened darkly.

Ron gulped and leaned back at the threat. “Um. Can I think about it?”

Harry squinted his eyes in thought. “Fine.” He nodded. “I have to go to detention anyway, but you better think about this long and hard Ron. Once you're in, you're in all the way. Understand?”

Ron nodded quickly as Harry stood. “Right then. I'll see you later Hermione?”

“I'll get started on finding that person you mentioned Harry.” Hermione said with a sharp nod.

He smiled at her softly before giving them both a bob goodbye and making his way towards the dungeons.

He would make a good criminal, he thought as he walked down far too many stairs. He could threaten like the best of them and make plans that had a good chance of succeeding. If all else failed, he at least had one career option. Surprisingly enough, considering he didn't actually know how to go about being a criminal, it eased his mind a little that there was life after Hogwarts.

~~~~~~

Even though it had been a little over two weeks since 'the potions incident' it didn't mean Snape had forgotten about it or had let Harry forget about it. What he had done was push the detention back enough times so that, as Harry suspected, he could vent his anger on Harry as much as he liked without any repercussions. It was also helpful because any time he tried to approach Snape, Snape very quickly turned down Harry's attempts at spending some time with him. Harry knew he still had to play his part if he didn't want Snape to catch on, but Merlin fuck was he grateful for the grudge holding arsehole that refused to spend even a moment longer than necessary with him.

It wasn't much of a surprise then that detention with Snape was the definition of hell. Not literally of course, because that would be all kinds of terrible and very illegal because children, but more in the sense that it was Snape and Harry was supposed to pretend to be mooning over him while hating his guts and not knowing if he was hiding his emotions enough for that hatred not to shine through. It had worked before because Snape hadn't given Harry even a second of his time, but now? One on one alone time with a man who very much hated his guts? Harry wasn’t that good of an actor.

Of course he still had Hermione's plan to work with, but how does one purposefully start an awkward conversation with the intent of flustering another person enough to have them avoid you without making it obvious that that's what your doing?

Harry was retracting his earlier statement; criminal life was definitely not for him. This was a terrible way to live! It hadn't even been five minutes and he was sure Snape was already planning his death! Ok, no, not his death, yet, but he can't imagine it being too far off in his mind.

Case in point: the clear loathing on Snape's face as he glared at Harry. Harry kept in a sigh as he figured that at least they had one real thing in common. As luck would have it, Snape happily ignored him for a full ten minutes of detention. Harry had been ordered to clean all the cauldrons (the ones Snape used because students were responsible for keeping their own equipment clean and Snape liked to have students clean his cauldrons without magic) before promptly ignoring him. Of course, that ignoring of him wasn't going so great for Snape because the man kept looking over and glaring at Harry.

“And what exactly, Potter, was that stunt you pulled in class?” Snape finally asked, breaking the intense silence that had been building since he had walked into the room.

“Well...” Harry stretched out as he turned to Snape while trying to keep his filthy hands over the sink. If there was one thing he knew about the man that he had been well on his way to almost falling in love with, it was how much he hated waiting for an answer.

“Yes?” He sniped out. Harry refrained from grinning and made a show of washing his hands and drying them.

“It was something Ron said.” He said slowly, looking at Snape under his lashes and quickly looking away as if the subject was a touchy one and he didn't know how Snape was going to react. Which wasn't really an act, if he was being honest.

“And this prompted your despicable behavior?” Snape snapped out, irritation written across his features.

“It's just...I wanted to have a chance to speak with you without anyone becoming suspicious.” Which would also happily explain the many attempts Harry had made to speak to Snape and would also ease any suspicions Snape had of Harry. If there had been any at all, that is. He still wasn't sure if Snape had even noticed anything amiss with his wards.

“Because of something Mr. Weasley alluded to.” Snape stated with a barely restrained sigh. Harry nodded meekly and waited for Snape to lose his patience. “Well?”

“Huh? Oh. Um. He just said-and it wasn't like I hadn't wondered myself-but I thought-really, it doesn't matter-” Harry started to blabber as his nerves got the best of him.

“Potter!” Snape interrupted harshly.

“Sorry.” Harry muttered as he looked away. He took a big, deep breath and then figured, why the hell not. All he needed to do was just say it and not get murdered. Easy. “Did you know my father?”

Snape stilled before his eyes. If Harry was a betting man, which he wasn't because he had terrible luck, he would have been sure Snape had stopped breathing altogether.

“What did you say?” Snape asked finally, the question so quiet Harry wasn't sure he heard it correctly.

“Well you see, Ron was going on and on about how you seemed to become a little less hostile and how the world must be ending soon and I laughed, because if he noticed then others must have too, so I asked him what he meant and then he said that you used to compare me to my father a whole lot, you remember, and how you weren't doing that so much anymore.” Harry took a deep breath. “So then I asked why that was odd and he said he just figured you got over it and so I asked 'over what' and he said the fact that I remind you of my father so I asked him if it was possible if you knew my dad and he said he always figured you did because why would you otherwise compare me to him and then I thought about it and remembered that I used to wonder that too and if I wondered it, then others would have too and so now I'm asking you.” All of that came out rather quickly in Harry's opinion, and there was a lot of information in there which made him rather proud of the constipated look Snape was currently wearing. He waited a beat or two to simply enjoy the emotional turmoil he'd been causing before he prodded the silence. “So...did you? Know my dad?”

“Your father.” Snape parroted, a little whiter than when they had started this conversation.

“Yes. Did you know him? You were probably around the same age.” Harry said, as if trying to puzzle it out. “And you did mention him a fair bit so you must have known what he was like. You've already said that I look like him, so that's nice to hear. Was he funny?” Harry asked, coming closer and closer to Snape with every sentence.

He hadn't really thought the conversation would go this way, but having Snape back up every time Harry took a step forward was altogether a very pleasant feeling.

“Funny?” Snape asked, a streak of pure rage flashing over his features before he looked at the hopeful look Harry was aiming at him.

Snape jerked back from Harry and made sure his desk was very firmly situated between the two of them.

“Are you ok Severus?” Harry asked in fake concern, reaching out to him before seemingly realizing that he was too far away to touch the other man.

“I'm not quite sure where this conversation came from,” Snape started, “but I do not think it's appropriate.”

“Well I told you that.” Harry said with some confusion. “From Ron.”

“Of course. Mr. Weasley.”

“So did you?” Harry prodded again. He really had no intention of putting any effort into his relationship with Snape (even though he had to in order to prevent Snape from suspecting something was amiss) so he hoped with everything in him that this worked enough that Snape would be wary of spending any sort of extra time with Harry for the foreseeable future.

“I knew your father.” Snape finally grit out, looking like he was in a great amount of pain having just admitted to it.

Harry lit up like a Christmas tree. “That's amazing! Will you tell me stories? What was he like? What did he like to do? Was he a good student? How did he and my mum meet? Did you know her too?” Harry bombarded him. Really, he thought in surprise as Snape suddenly sprung into action, he was only throwing random questions out there to fluster Snape as much as he could. He had no idea Snape would ever react like a...like a, fuck, Harry didn't even know what.

“No time for that tonight.” Snape announced gruffly as he quickly gathered all of his papers without a single glance in Harry's direction. “Detention's over, Pot-Harry, get ou-go to your dorm.” Snape stumbled out, clearly out of sorts as Harry's eyes grew in both concern (would Snape actually hex him?) and delight (that he could even evoke this type of reaction from Snape was something for the history books).

“But what about-“

“Next time!” Snape snarled at him with so much anger that Harry actually took several steps away from the man.

Huh. Harry thought to himself as he watched Snape quickly retreat to his quarters. Would you look at that. Hermione was right. Sometimes plans do work. Number two of plan ‘Destroy Snape’ was working just fine!

All he had to do now was wonder how long this would put Snape off for. If all else failed, he could simply keep bringing it up until he got Snape fired. No worries.

~~~***~~~

“Er, Hermione? What's going on?” Harry asked in bemusement as several first years handed her a piece of parchment and giving her a conspiratorial look before they scampered off.

“Hmm?” Hermione asked, tearing her eyes away from whatever was written on the parchment to look at Harry. “Oh!” She said, catching up. “Well, I had the whole of Gryffindor do a little amateur sleuthing.” She told him as she put the parchment into her notebook.

“You did what?!” Harry whisper yelled, grabbing her arm and pulling her into a corner.

“Would you calm down!” She shrieked, whacking at his hands until he let go. “Get a hold of yourself! Honestly!”

“Why did you do that?” Glaring at his best friend while pouting and rubbing a particularly painful spot on his hand.

“I don't like being manhandled, why else?” Hermione stated angrily while tugging her shirt down and patting it down to its previously smooth state.

“I meant the sleuthing!” Harry huffed out.

“Oh that.” She said off-handedly. “Well it's not like we could follow Snape around without him catching on to what we were doing, now could we?”

“No?” Harry asked, because he hadn't even realized this part of the plan was already in motion. Without his knowledge even.

“No. So why would he notice an entire house documenting his every move when they act as they normally do every day?”

“They are?”

“Of course they are. They write down when they see him and what he's doing and I set up a timeline and track his habits.”

“Merlin, Hermione. That's bloodly brilliant!” Harry said, staring at her in awe.

“Yes, I know.” Hermione stated blandly. “Who would have thought. Me. Smart. Impossible. The odds. Wow.”

“Alright, alright.” Harry chuckled holding up his hands in surrender. “I'm a terrible person for doubting you.”

“You would be wise to remember that.” She threatened as her lips twitched in amusement.

“So, what did you find? And how did you get them to do this for you?”

“Oh, that part was surprisingly easy. As a Prefect I called a house meeting and then told them that we were tired of Snape being such a dick-”

“Hermione! Language!” Harry reprimanded her, acting shocked before smiling impishly at her glare.

“-and that we were planning an epic prank but we needed to know his schedule. It won't surprise you that everyone hates Snape enough that they all agreed. Didn't even need any convincing. I'm pretty sure several letters went out to Fred and George, but we'll see if they have the nerve to write me. Actually, maybe I should write them.” She said thoughtfully.

“You...you do know they're not scared of you right?” Harry hedged carefully. Hermione scoffed and raised an eyebrow. Harry sighed. “They never listened to you, they frequently went behind your back, they kind of made fun of you for trying to get them in trouble when they still went here, they used to bribe students to play pranks on you...do I need to go on?”

“Means nothing. They fear me. I know it.” Hermione replied, waving her hand in the air in a dismissive gesture. “Not the point though. She forged on. “If we want the house to remain blessedly clueless to our true motives, we're actually going to have to do this major prank we've promised them.”

“’We’? Who is this ‘we’? I don't remember promising anyone anything.” Harry said, slightly alarmed that he was being pulled into this. Even though, yes, technically this was all about him.

“Don't be silly. I shamelessly used your name because I'm a really good Prefect and they didn't believe that I'd do it. You on the other hand...”

Harry squinted at her in suspicion. “You used that incident in potions didn't you?” Hermione almost blinded him with her smile. He sighed deeply.” Of course you did. Look, I'll help with the execution of the whole thing, but I refuse to help you plan it.”

She scoffed. “Don't be ridiculous, your plans never work and we'd be in trouble before we even set the thing in motion. No, I'll have Ron help me.”

“He'll do better than me, will he?” Harry asked, a touch of snide in there because he was a resentful little fuck sometimes and he owned it.

“When he cares to, and I'll make sure he that does, he can actually come up with some pretty good plans. Also, I'll need his help in convincing his brothers that I'm not trying to pull one over on them.”

Harry snorted. “That makes more sense. So, have you found anything on Blakely yet? Because I've got nothing. We don't even have yearbooks. No pictures, no records, no nothing.”

“No, I've got no- records?” Hermione asked, switching tracks abruptly as she got a vacant look on her face.

“Yep, no records.” Harry repeated.

“That's actually not possible. Well,” she amended seeing the look Harry gave her, “ok, it is possible. The pictures make sense because practically all British witches and wizards go to Hogwarts unless they have parents that have gone to other schools. Why keep pictures if everyone you know goes to the same school? Besides, it's tradition. The records, however, they should have. And if they don't have them in the library, because I checked-”

“Of course you did. Not that I didn't tell you I looked for them and did actual work in trying to track it down.” Harry muttered in a surely tone.

“- that means that they store them somewhere else. Where to look, where to look.” She pondered, ignoring Harry's dark muttering.

“The only two logical places are with the Headmaster and the Deputy Headmaster.” Harry stated.

“That _is_ logical.” Hermione praised him, bravely ignoring the death glare he was sending her. “So Professor Dumbledore or Professor McGonagall. That won't be easy to explain.” Hermione said, worrying her bottom lip with her teeth.

“Who says we have to?” Harry asked, an idea suddenly popping up into his head.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, we've already blatantly abused my parent's memories once before to get me out of trouble with Snape, why not do it again?” Harry asked, excitement building as a plan started to form.

“I'm not following. You want to go to Professor Dumbledore or McGonagall and ask to see the records to look up your parents? But you already know they went here.” She pointed out in confusion.

“No.” Harry replied in exasperation. “I want to jot down some names of the people in their year and ask them if they have any pictures or stories of my parents!”

“Oh. Oh wow, that is kind of brilliant. Not only would that get them all smushy because of the emotional aspect, but it basically guarantees we get to look.”

“You know, I'm starting to really resent your opinion of my intelligence.” Harry stated with a bland voice and dangerously slanted eyes. “And smushy is not a word.”

“You insulted my intelligence not five minutes ago. Tell someone who cares.” Hermione scoffed as she ignored the rest of what he had said.

“Hermione!”

“Harry!”

“Guys?”

“ARGH!” Harry and Hermione screamed as they jumped around to the owner of the voice.

“What the bloodly hell mate?!” Harry yelled, clutching his heart. “I have a heart condition, don't you know! You could have murdered me!”

“Hermione-what-stop-woman! Stop hitting me!” Ron yelled as he tried to protect whatever area Hermione was hitting him without hurting her.

“That's what you get for scaring me!” Hermione huffed out angrily.

“Maybe pay better attention next time! Merlin, you two are like a pair of bowtruckles.”

“Murder I tell you!” Harry cried out dramatically, his heart still racing.

“Oh relax, you're not dead yet.” Hermione said, rolling her eyes as she picked up the notebook she'd just dropped. “I'll just drop this off and we can go to dinner.”

“You see that!” Harry asked Ron, pointing dramatically at Hermione's retreating back. “She's got it out for me!”

“Good. Then I won't have to hex you for spending too much time alone with her.”

“What?” Harry asked as Ron suddenly turned red.

“Pardon?” Ron asked, pretending to be confused.

“Huh?” Harry asked, actually confused.

“No.” Ron said in return.

“You just said-” Harry started, peering suspiciously at Ron.

“No I didn't.” Ron interrupted, eyes darting to where Hermione had just disappeared.

“I was there, I think I heard you.” Harry stated, crossing his arms.

“Don't be stupid, you were having a heart attack. You're a delicate creature. All that stress just got to you. Definitely hearing things. You should go to Madam Pomfrey to get that checked out.”

“My heart is fine, thank you very much!” Harry stated as he uncrossed his arms and stood up a straighter, a little offended at the delicate creature comment.

“You have a heart condition, don't you know?” Ron said, still looking at the stairs leading to the girl's dormitories. “Now hush up.” He said before Harry could comment. “Hermione's coming.”

“What are you two doing?” Hermione asked lightly, looking from one boy to the other.

“Wouldn't know.” Harry groused. “I'm a delicate creature with a heart condition and terrible hearing.”

“What?” Hermione asked, looking thoroughly bemused.

“Nothing, nothing.” Ron hastily interrupted. “He's just getting over his heart attack, aren't you mate? Let's go eat!” Ron said as he ushered both of them out the portrait hole.

Hermione gave Ron a suspicious look before something crossed her face. She gathered herself and then cleared her voice. “Hey Harry?”

“What?” Harry replied shortly, still sulking.

“How are you doing with the whole Draco thing?” She asked off-handedly.

Harry narrowed his eyes at her in distrust. “Just fine, thank you.”

“Malfoy? What about Malfoy? He's not hexing you, is he mate? Because Ginny taught me a new one that's bound to hurt.” Ron jumped in eagerly.

Hermione laughed. “Heard about that one. No, Harry fancies Draco.”

“Hermione!” Harry spluttered out, terrified and indignant. It wasn't as if they hadn't had conversations about Harry's bisexual nature, but it wasn't something he had had the chance to discuss with Ron yet and having her just blurt it out? Well, it felt a whole lot like disloyalty really.

“You are?” Ron asked, surprised and hopeful. Then he frowned in thought. “Why?”

“What do you mean why?” Harry asked, a little defensive and a lot on edge. Though, to be fair to Ron, he didn't really seem like he had a problem with Harry dating other men which was very much a relief on its own.

“He's a bullying git, mate. Been on you since first year. Not exactly the nicest of blokes either, is he?” Ron asked, eyeing Harry and giving him a soft smile and a nod.

That was all Harry really needed from Ron and relief poured through his veins. Acceptance was a heady feeling.

“Sure, but he's got great eyes. Got these little flecks of green in his eyes. Have you noticed?” Harry said honestly, thinking on what had attracted him to Malfoy in the first place.

“Don't want to get that close, thanks.” Hermione stated flatly. Harry glared at her and she at least had the decency to wince. They'd be having words about this.

Ron got a constipated look on his face. “Mate. That's a terrible reason to fancy someone.”

Harry shrugged. “He's just been trying to get my attention in the worst way possible. I'm trying to figure out if he's any nicer as a normal person.”

“That-That actually sounds reasonable.” Ron said slowly.

Harry glared at Hermione and Ron. “If you two don't stop saying fucking things like that, I'll hex you both into next week!” He yelled at them before storming off to sit with Ginny and her friends.

“What happened? What did I do?” Ron asked, bewildered.

Hermione shrugged carelessly. “Never mind that, he'll get over it. Now Ron, when was the last time you wrote to Fred and George?”

~~~~~~

“Harry? Can we talk?” Hermione asked a few days later. He was still incredibly angry at her and let her know at every available opportunity, which was a lot of the time since they usually spent their days together.

“What about? Or do you want to wait for someone else to pop by and tell them all my secrets too? I'm sure Neville would love to hear all about the newest ‘Harry gossip’.” Harry snarked.

“I know you're mad at me.” She said softly.

“Don't know why you'd think that.” He said sarcastically. He would have applauded her composure and obvious attempts at not getting irritated if he wasn't livid to begin with.

“It was wrong of me.” She stated, sounding a little rehearsed. “It wasn't my place to bring up the conversation especially since you never told me I could. Or that you were ready. It was something you should have shared in your own time.”

Harry crossed his arms and glared at her in silent judgment. “And who told you to say those things to me?”

Hermione winced. “Ginny.” She mumbled, a little embarrassed.

Harry sighed. If she had gone to Ginny then she knew she was in the wrong but didn't understand why. It wasn't that she was emotionally unaware, she wasn't, it was just that sometimes she didn't understand why he would wait to say something to Ron when he had already shared it with her. In her mind it was already out there, it just never occurred to her that he would wait or want to keep it between the two of them. And maybe that was also his fault; he should have told her that he wanted to tell Ron in his own time. It was possible that she hadn't been aware that he hadn't yet, but knowing Hermione that was probably unlikely.

“Hermione, I wasn't ready to tell Ron because I wasn't sure how he would have reacted. You took away the opportunity for us to have a proper conversation about it and have me ask him questions, and vice versa, that would make us both feel more comfortable around each other.”

She hesitated but shook her head. “You were going to tell him anyway and he was just being jealous of us and I didn't want him thinking there was something going on between us.”

“So instead of just telling him that, or telling him how you actually feel about him, you decided to tell him I liked Malfoy. A Slytherin who has insulted and bullied him since we were eleven. Tell me, if I walked up to him right now and told him you liked him, what would you do?”

“I'd be angry.” She said immediately. “That was something between you and me and you...ohh.” She looked up at him with tears in her eyes. “I'm such an idiot.”

Harry sighed again and dropped his arms. “Yes you are.”

“Can you forgive me?” She asked in a small voice as she wiped away a stray tear.

“Depends on whether or not you intend to do anything like that to me again.” Harry retorted.

“Never again.” She hiccupped. “I'll try to never do it again.” She amended after a slight pause.

Harry nodded. “Alright then. You can be my idiot again.”

Hermione whacked him on his upper arm but gave him a watery laugh before hugging him tightly. After she took a few minutes to compose herself she gave Harry a thoughtful look he didn't appreciate in the least.

“What is it now?” He asked, almost fearing the answer.

“It's about Draco.” She hedged carefully.

“What about him?”

“Do you like him because you like him, or do you like him because you can get back at Snape like this?”

Harry blinked. That was actually a fair question. “I don't think I know enough about him to answer that question.” He replied slowly.

Hermione frowned at that. “Do you want to find out?”

Harry snorted. “Of course I do. I'll just have to do it the old fashioned way.”

Hermione's frown didn't disappear but she did add a hint of disbelief. “The old fashioned way?”

“I'm going to ask him on a date.” He stated proudly, puffing up his chest. He appreciated the silence after his proclamation even if he wasn't a fan of the doubt on her face.

~~~~~~

“You think we should what?” Malfoy - Draco - asked with so much bewilderment that Harry was a little surprised he had even managed to ask the question.

“Date.” Harry repeated with a strong nod.

“You think we should date?” Malfoy - Draco! - repeated.

That wasn't a good sign. Considering the fact that Draco was already partially in love with him and Harry was essentially using this information for his own gain, well, having the odds if your favor and still losing, that's not good. It also wasn't a good sign that he was thinking like this because Draco was a person that liked him and Harry wasn't in the business to be purposefully cruel.

Which was actually what the date was for. He needed to know if he could grow to like Draco. Grow to love him. He needed to figure out if he was doing this to get back at Snape or because he was genuinely looking for the real thing. Maybe that's why Draco scared him so much, since he was not only a real option but also an option to potentially last their entire lives. He was only sixteen for Merlin’s sake!

“I think we should go out and decide if we can even like each other like that.” Harry stated, echoing his own thoughts.

“Why would we need to do that?” Draco asked, a little offended.

“Because you're a bullying git that goes out of his way to make my life miserable every day?” Harry asked in a mixture of honesty and sarcasm.

“It's not as if you don't give as good as you get.” Draco hissed back defensively.

If Harry wasn't a hundred percent sure that Draco was possibly in love with him, he'd believe people when they said Draco hated him.

“You took one rejected gesture, _at eleven_, and milked it for all it was worth.” Harry deadpanned with a pointed look.

“Then why are you even standing here asking, no, telling me we should date?” Draco asked, waving his arms about in exaggerated aggravation.

“Because I think I might actually like you, you stupid git! You're smart, you can be funny, you're very sarcastic, and you have these really pretty flecks of green in your eyes.”

Draco blinked at him in the silence that followed. “Oh. Yes. No, that seems like a perfectly good reason to date. We should do that. We should date. You...you have, um, great hair.” Draco choked out awkwardly before clearing his throat, nodding formally at Harry and then walking away as quickly as he could without running.

“I have great hair?” Harry asked the empty space in bewilderment. “What the bloody hell is that supposed to mean?” Maybe dating boys wasn't going to be any easier than dating girls. If that was the case then Harry was officially screwed.

“It's not that nice.” A ghost commented, scaring Harry out of his skin.

“What?” Harry asked, trying to get his racing heart to calm.

“Your hair. It's far too scruffy to be nice. A little wild really. Looks a bit of a disaster if I'm honest.” The ghost said with a casual shrug of his shoulders before floating away.

Harry sighed deeply and turned back to stare at the hallway Draco had disappeared in. “Yeah. That's what I thought too.”

~~~***~~~

“What brings you both to my office?” Professor McGonagall asked, narrowing her eyes at the pair of them.

Harry wasn't sure if he should be offended or not but since he was with Hermione, he chose not to be. He couldn't be in trouble if Hermione was with him, could he? Plus, if he was being honest with himself, it wasn't as if he hadn't been in her office enough times when he was actually in trouble for her not to be suspicious of him when he came in willingly.

Hermione nudged his side and he grunted before clearing his throat.

“Er, right, yeah. I was wondering, and it's alright if it's not, I mean this is kind of odd and I'm sure as students we're not allowed to do this, but I kind of want to know so I'm here to ask you if we can?” Harry finished with a hopeful look.

Now, here was the thing: the information they wanted was either with Dumbledore or McGonagall but the easiest person for them to get to was McGonagall so here they were. It was also a happy happenstance that if they did need to go to the Headmaster, then the most logical way to get to the information they needed was going through the Deputy Headmaster who would have already given them the go-ahead. If all else failed, they always had the horrible option of the invisibility cloak and a bit of illegal searching. Harry fully realized that it was terrible logic, but it was the best they had at the moment.

Professor McGonagall stared at him for far longer than he was comfortable with until she turned to Hermione and raised her eyebrows.

“Harry would like to know if we could look up the names of the people in his parents year so he could owl them for pictures and stories about his parents.” Hermione dutifully translated.

Harry nodded in agreement and gave the professor his best hopeful smile. She looked at both of them carefully before answering.

“I had thought that Hagrid had gifted you something similar in your first year, had he not?” She asked sternly, looking at Harry.

Harry tried his very best not to gulp in guilt because, fuck, he had forgotten that minor detail. “Erm, yes, he did. It's just...I love the pictures and all, but I'd like to hear what they were like, you know? I don't really know a whole lot about them. Who were my mother's friends? What foods did she like to eat? What was her favorite colour? Did my dad swear a lot? I...it's...I don't have very much of them. I would be grateful for whatever they give me, professor.” Harry said as earnestly as he could.

He wasn't lying either, which probably helped his case. The only stories he had heard about his parents came from Sirius and most of those were about the Marauders and the pranks they pulled. He liked those just fine, loved hearing about them in fact, but he had never really heard anything about his mother and it had left him wanting. So while this was technically a ruse from start to finish, it was also something that he would actually like to have. Something real from the people that had known them best when they had been alive.

“This is very unusual, not to mention unethical.” Professor McGonagall stated firmly. “However, I do understand the desire to know more about ones parents.” She pursed her lips and tapped her wand against her desk in thought as Harry held his breath. “I'll allow it.” She stated.

Harry let out a whoosh of air. “You will?” He asked hopefully.

“Under two conditions.” Professor McGonagall stated sternly, Harry already nodding his head in agreement. “The first being you may never speak of this with other students, and the second that you do not hound anyone you do not get an answer from. Understood?”

“Yes professor!” Hermione and Harry said simultaneously.

“You will also not have unlimited access to this information so you will set up a day with me now. There will be no further dates as this will not become some sort of endless list of names you can simply badger at your own whim. Understood?”

“Yes professor.” Harry nodded quickly.

“We understand, thank you professor.” Hermione added on.

“Yes, thanks professor.” Harry echoed quickly.

It didn't take much more time for them to set up a time for them to come back tomorrow afternoon once classes were over. Professor McGonagall raised an eyebrow at the eagerness but thankfully didn't comment. Harry really didn't want to know what would happen if she ever learned the truth and prayed to all the gods that he could think of that she never would. They left quickly after that and went back to their common room to finish their homework for the day, meeting up with Ron so Hermione could make sure he finished his work as well.

“Do you think we'll be looking for a while?” Hermione asked as soon as Ron left to put his homework away.

Harry huffed in thought. “I don't think I'll be the one looking.” He said finally.

“What? That's the whole point of this, Harry!” Hermione reprimanded him, looking a little angry.

Harry rolled his eyes. “Calm down. I meant that we still have to put up a front with Professor McGonagall. It's not like we can leave without a list of names. So I'll have to write down names and you're going to have to look. If she comes in at any point and we have nothing...” He trailed off. “Besides, you’re better at research and you’d be faster in getting the name then I would be.”

“She'll know we're up to something if we don’t have at least something written down.” Hermione nodded thoughtfully. “It will probably take longer for me to find their name if I’m on my own. I just hope they're listed by year or we'll be in there for hours!” She lamented.

Harry snorted because he knew full well that she was already upset at the lost studying time and not the potential amount of names they would have to go through. He didn't even want to think of a scenario where McGonagall didn't leave the office at all. They should probably have started some kind of plan that included a scenario like that because it was the most likely outcome as they were handling private information that she was already very reluctant to let them have.

She was also the type of professor that liked to watch her students to make sure they didn't end up doing anything mischievous. That, and Harry had gotten into loads of trouble in the previous years and the odds that she would leave him on his own where very slim. Hermione or no Hermione.

Despite all of this, however, they were still banking on the fact that she would leave them alone for some unspecified period of time so they could enact their plan. Well, Harry did say his plans were never any good.

“What are you two talking about?” Ron asked as he sat down across from Harry and pulled out his chess board. Harry gave a pained groan but dutifully set up his half of the board.

“Harry wants some stories and pictures from people who knew his parents so we asked Professor McGonagall about getting those names. We're looking tomorrow.”

Ron scrunched up his nose at the thought of doing more work. “I don't have to help with that, do I?” He asked, looking a little hopefully at Harry.

Harry snorted in laughter and shook his head. “No mate, just me and Hermione this time.”

“Thank Merlin!” Ron sighed in relief before catching Hermione's distinctly unimpressed and disapproving look. “Erm, not to say that I wouldn't help, of course. Because it's important for you to find out things about your parents and all.” Ron quickly added on.

Harry laughed at him as he prodded one of the pieces to move. “Don't worry about it, its fine.” He knew what Ron meant after all.

Ron nodded but looked at Hermione for confirmation and gave her a weak smile when she just sniffed and buried her head in a book. “Close call.” Ron muttered under his breath. “Is this part of the thing you're doing that could change your future that you guys are doing?” Ron asked thoughtfully, looking up at Harry with narrowed eyes.

Harry met his look with one of his own. “Are you ready to give me a wizarding vow not to go divulging anything I tell you?” He asked instead.

Harry watched as Ron grunted but shook his head. “It's a wizarding vow, not something you just jump into.” He said as he moved a piece of his own that was far happier to listen to his commands than Harry's side. “It's not an Unbreakable vow, but magic can be funny about intentions sometimes and-”

“It's fine, Ron.” Harry interrupted.

Ron shook his head. “It's not. It's not something you should take lightly either.” Ron stated with a pointed look. “I need time to make sure the choice I make is something I can live with, whichever way I do choose.”

Harry nodded. “That's fair, but you'll need to stop getting your nose stuck in our business until you do decide.” Harry said before pleading with one of his pieces to at least try his strategy.

When it refused to listen, Harry resorted to the good old method of picking it up and plunking it down where he wanted it to go. He yelped in pain when the piece stabbed his finger in retaliation.

“Fucking things.” He muttered darkly as he glared at his rebelling pawns.

Ron chuckled at his antics but nodded. “Alright, I can try to do that. All you need to do is get better at chess.”

Harry decided to take his frustrations out on Ron and hexed him for the comment. Ron squawked and ducked out of the way before firing a jinx back at Harry. It would have devolved into an honestly epic battle if Hermione hadn't taken that moment to pop out of her book and read them the riot act before Ginny walked by and hexed her just because she could. Neither boy stuck around long enough to see how that fight turned out because they weren't brainless. They simply enjoyed the chaos from second hand accounts and listening to the noise from the top of the stairs (and very much out of sight).

It was a good night.

~~~~~~

When they came in the next day after classes had ended, Professor McGonagall ushered them into her office before leaving to a side room and returning with a set of three fairly slim books.

“These are a list of names of the people a year above, the same year, and the year below your parents. You may have only these names. If you are referred to names outside of these years from the people that write back to you then you should. However I have my doubts that you would find many that would have been close to your parents.”

Harry nodded his head in thanks as he took the three books from his professor. “Thank you for this, professor. Really.” He said earnestly as he took the books from her outstretched hands.

Her expression softened the tiniest of bits as she smiled at him. “Don't take too long Mr. Potter; you still have homework to get to.”

He laughed and nodded before she told them she had a staff meeting and would be gone an hour. Honestly, Harry thought a bit dazed by the good news, sometimes plans just fall into place without you having to lift a finger.

“It shouldn't take you too long to write down the names of the people in your parent’s years, considering you have help.” Professor McGonagall stated as she gathered her things. “I therefore expect it shouldn't take up too much of your time to wait for me when you are finished. I am trusting you both.” She added as she was leaving.

“Merlin.” Harry muttered when she was gone. “She's got a way to make you feel guilty even when you're not doing something wrong, doesn't she?”

Hermione snorted as she opened one of the books. “We are doing something wrong.” She pointed out.

Harry waved the comment away as he grabbed the second book. “That's not the point, she doesn't know we're doing anything wrong.”

“But we are.” Hermione repeated as she turned the page.

Harry rolled his eyes and was just thankful to have the help so he stopped trying to argue with Hermione. “So, how do we go about this?”

Hermione looked up from her book to look around the room. “Right. Well, we were right about the records being by year, only every name is in there from the entire year. Thankfully they're written down with the houses they were in but they are in alphabetical order so it'll take you some time to write down the names.” She stated. “The rest of the books aren't here, so I'll have to go digging in the room Professor McGonagall came from and hope it’s the right one and not some place she just put the books to give to us later.”

“We have an hour.” Harry pointed out. “If we look together we'll get their name faster and then we can focus back on this.”

She snorted. “That's not as long as you think. Besides, didn’t you say before that I would be doing all the looking-up? Start with the year your parents were in and I'll come help once I'm done. If she comes in sooner I can read out the names and you write them down to make it look like we did it together since I won't have a list.” She advised. “It could be faster if we did it together, yes, but it could also take us the hour she's gone to find the name and if we don't have anything written down?” Hermione finished with a pointed look.

Harry wasn't completely sure he liked this but nodded in agreement anyway. It had been his plan after all, no matter his unease now. Knowing that this was out of his hands and he was relying solely on Hermione made his insides twitch. Not that he didn’t trust Hermione, just that if something went wrong, he would rather have it that he’d been a part of it.

Honestly, it was already more than a break that McGonagall was leaving them alone for a whole hour so they could get their sleuthing done. He didn't know which gods to thank for that, but it was one of the few times in his life that something he hoped for was actually coming true. ‘If you think too hard about it,’ Harry wondered privately, ‘do you jinx yourself even if you don't say the words aloud?’

“We won't have any warning that she'll be coming.” He cautioned her, coming back to their present predicament.

“No, but that's what the map is for.” She said with a sly smile as she took it out of her pocket.

“Hermione! Did you steal that from me?” Harry asked, both impressed and aghast that she would just take it from him.

“Temporarily borrowed it for a good cause.” She said proudly. “Now hurry up!”

“Right, right.” He replied, pulling a book towards him and opening it. “We are going to be having a long conversation about taking things that aren't yours.” He called out as she moved to the door McGonagall had come through.

The names were listed in alphabetical order like Hermione had said. Last name, first name, and the initial of the house they had been in followed by the years they had attended. He noticed quickly that not all the names attended to the end of the year they were supposed to. It was a stark reminder that his parents had grown up in a war and that by all accounts they had been lucky to live as long as they had. It wasn't a comforting thought at all.

He sighed deeply and started to write down all the Gryffindor names while also trying to keeping track of Hermione's movements by listening to the sounds coming from the room.

~~

“Found something yet?” He called out half an hour later as he stretched out and noticed she hadn't made any noise in some time.

He heard some shuffling before her head popped out of the doorway with her hair looking far wilder than it had when they came in and, boy, was that saying something considering the epic fluff of hair she usually had.

“Yes, I found the rest of the books but there's a bloody million of them and they don't exactly advertise the year on the spines or have any kind of logical order so it's taking a lot longer than I thought to find the book we're looking for. Not to mention the fact that I can’t do this by magic in case Professor McGonagall gets suspicious.” Hermione groused moodily.

“You might want to speed it up.” He warned her, understanding now why her hair was behaving the way it was. “She said she'd be gone only an hour and it's been half that already. We're running out of time.”

“I know that.” She whisper yelled angrily at him before popping away again. Yeah, he wasn't going to even bother with that.

He sighed deeply and wrote as quickly as he could to try and make it seem like he had been doing the work of two people instead of one. He frowned in thought as he remembered that Ron had told him that sometimes magic worked more with your intentions rather than with the spell you say. Well, he amended silently, that's not quite what he said, but that was what it came down to. So, if that was the case (and it wasn't something that was taught by any teacher so this was purely hypothetical and probably useless) maybe he could use his magic to intentionally do something. Maybe this was a bit like creating your own spell. He rubbed his nose as he thought hard about what he wanted his magic to do before he swished and flicked his wand.

Nothing.

He growled in annoyance and frowned heavily at the book in front of him. If spells were intention based (no matter what kind of spell it turned out to be since it was at its base simply magic) then it would make sense that accidental magic didn't need words at all. Now the question was whether or not this was because children didn't have the vocabulary needed for the spells or they simply didn't need the spell at all. When he apparated to the school roof he had just wanted to get away. When he shrunk Dudley's old sweater, it was because he really really _really_ didn't want to be wearing something so horrendous. He hadn't had any spells for those. Magic had become easier with a wand as a focus, so if he now had more knowledge of magic itself and had a focus in which to do that magic, did he really need the spell?

Yes, ok, it was close to nonverbal casting, and maybe the principle of it was the same, but you essentially still said the spell in your head. So maybe what he needed was a little less thinking and a bit more...wishing. What he wanted was all the names of the Gryffindor’s on the parchment he had brought with him. Therefore, the most logical thing for his magic to do was find all those names and copy them onto his paper. That, specifically, was what he really needed right now. He also really needed to not get into trouble which unintentionally fueled his need just that bit more as he closed his eyes and let his hand follow his instincts. He violently flicked his wand to the side and upwards in a curving motion as he very strongly willed his magic to _please help him make this go faster_.

He felt a tingle of magic in the air and peeked one eye open to glance about the room. When he saw that nothing had changed, he sighed in resignation and grabbed his quill to continue to write the names down manually. He flicked a glance at his parchment to look at the last name he had written down and then looked back at the book when he stopped and quickly looked back at the parchment.

He exhaled a breath of stunned happiness because it _bloody worked_. It worked! He had done it! A whole year of names, neatly (ish, it was still his handwriting after all) written down one after the other. He then promptly felt intensely foolish because why on earth had he looked around the room if what he wanted was supposed to be on the parchment?

“Holy Merlin riding a dragon.” He whispered in awe, quickly pushing away any feelings other than happiness.

He quickly grabbed another book and opened it to the first page of names as he grabbed some fresh parchment and wrote the year at the top of it and repeated his wand movements and intent wishing. He didn't know how it worked, but knowing it had worked made it easier for him to accomplish it the second time. He didn't dare change any of his previous actions so he squeezed his eyes shut again and when he opened them, the parchment was once again filled with names. He let out a disbelieving laugh and sat back in his chair as he was filled with a pleased feeling of accomplishment.

Was this accidental magic based? Because he had clearly wanted it and he hadn't said a single spell. It wasn't as if this concept of magic was a new one either, so maybe this was some obscure branch of teaching that the professors just didn't have the time to go into.

“Harry!” Hermione called frantically from the other room, interrupting his moment of pride. “She's coming back early and I haven't found the name yet!”

“Fuck!” Harry yelled out and jumping up in surprise. “Hermione, what do you want me to do? I can't stall her! If she sees that you're not here, she'll get suspicious! I can't even pretend you're in the bathroom because the door is next to her desk!” He pointed out frantically as he ran towards her. “What do we do?” He asked as he found her quickly scanning each page before turning it as fast as she could.

“I don't know! I don't know! Come here and tell me when she gets a corridor away. We know where the books are now; we can use your cloak to come back if we have to!” Hermione said as she carried on scanning as quickly as she could.

Harry grabbed the map and it took a precious few seconds to find Professor McGonagall's name while his heart hammered away in his chest. “Fuck, she's right below us Hermione. You have to hurry!”

“Not helping.” Hermione ground out, irritated and stressed. “Go into the other room and pretend you're writing. If I'm standing and reading to you it'll be less suspicious!”

Harry practically ran from the room while he watched Professor McGonagall's steady march back to her office. He almost sighed in relief as Professor Sprout caught up with her and they seemed to stop. He also tripped over the chair he had been sitting in as he watched McGonagall's little dot on the map in case she moved again. He swore silently at his bruised shins but only gave them a cursory glance before plopping down on the chair and watching the map again.

“Hermione?” He called out. “You're running out of time.” He warned her, anxiety in his voice. “Two minutes!” He called out in warning, something that probably wasn't true but would give Hermione something tangible to hold onto time wise.

He watched in dejection as both teachers parted ways and McGonagall make her way back to them.

“Fuck.” He swore silently. She was on their floor. “Hermione!” He called out, more hysterical than last time. “Get out of there! She's coming! _She’s coming!_”

He heard some faint noises coming from the room Hermione was in before looking up and seeing his best friend rushing into the room again, shutting the door firmly behind her and running to the desk he was seated at. She picked up the book he hadn't gotten to yet by pure luck and quickly flipped the book open as she leaned on his desk. She took a deep breath and looked at him before he eyes widened in fright.

“Harry!” She moaned quietly in distress, eyes darting down to the table top. “The map! The map! Get rid of the map!”

Harry jumped and swore as he quickly muttered a mischief managed before folding the map as quickly as he could and shoving it into his pocket just as McGonagall opened the door. His eyes widened in fear before leaning down over his bag, stuffing the edges of the map into his pocket neatly while frantically grabbing some fresh parchment for the last book.

Sitting back up, he fumbled a little with the quill before grabbing it properly and turning to Hermione with a look her hoped was something on the innocent side instead of the fear and adrenaline he felt running through his veins.

Professor McGonagall strode in and looked over at them in suspicion. “Have you made good use of your time?” She questioned as she dropped her papers on her desk before walking over to them. Harry noticed Hermione's grip on the book in her hands turn a little tight as he smiled at his Professor.

“On the last one actually.” Harry said as brightly as he could. “It's a lot of names though.” He added, looking to the other two parchments off to the side that were full of names.

Professor McGonagall hummed as she walked around the desk and peered over his shoulder. She moved the top parchment over to look at the one beneath it and nodded at them both.

“You've gotten far. Just think of it this way Mr. Potter.” She said as she straightened up again. “If even half of these people send you any anecdotes at all, it would be quite a lot of new information for you to discover.”

He blinked at that, having never thought of the actuality of having to send the letters and receive replies. A slow smiled grew on his face as he thought of actually getting anything at all.

“Even one letter would be more than enough.” He said softly, looking up at McGonagall with a smile.

“Yes.” She replied with a warm smile. “Yes, I do suppose it would.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've looked this over so many times my brain hurts, so if it seems too quick or messy it's because I stared at it too long and it's all one big word at this point.

“Fuck!” Harry swore quietly but fervently half an hour later as they walked out of Professor McGonagall's office. “We're never doing that again, you hear me?” He asked Hermione. “My heart can't take it!”

McGonagall hadn't commented on Hermione's fluff ball, to his great relief, but it was a pretty clear sign that she couldn't take the stress either.

“Next time we have an idea like this, let's let Ron do it instead.” She suggested tiredly.

Harry couldn't do more than nod. By mutual silent agreement, they hadn't said a word about the name Hermione may or may not have found until they were in a place where a lot less people could overhear them. Which wasn't to say that Harry wasn't bouncing around with nerves and dread because either they had the name and could finally continue with plan ‘Ruin Snape Forever’ (plan title pending input from the other members of course, he wasn't a tyrant) or they had to do a little bit of breaking and entering. With the scariest professor of all time possibly catching them. He really _really_ hoped they had the name.

“And?” Harry asked, practically dragging Hermione to their corner once they were in the common room.

Hermione lifted her eyebrows and Harry growled as he quickly put up his bubble of silence and secrecy before turning back to her with a look.

“I found her!” She squealed in delight.

“You did?” Harry asked, hope building up in his chest as the pent up stress left his body. “That's amazing! Who is it?”

“Her name is Aurora Blakely, she's two years above us and she was a Ravenclaw.”

“Yep, we would've never found her on our own.” Harry nodded sagely.

“Now what do we do?” Hermione questioned. “We can't just come out and say...all of this.” Hermione gestured to the entire room, but Harry understood.

“Since we know who she is now, the best we can hope for is a meeting. And, no offense, but I doubt she'd say yes to you.”

Hermione sighed. “No, I get it. Harry Potter is famous and would spike her interest. Hermione Granger would be waved away with a derisive snort.”

“Just for now.” He said, grabbing one of her hands and squeezing it tightly before dropping it. She smiled gratefully at him before noticing Ron.

“Ron?” She asked quizzically as he stepped closer to them and bursting Harry's well spelled bubble once again. He really ought to find out why that kept happening.

“I want in. I don't know what you guys are up to or in to, but I've had enough and I want in.” He said with steel in his voice and a serious face that made Harry nod automatically.

“Are you sure about this?” Harry asked anyway, because it was only his life and generally things like this ended badly for him and he didn't want Ron to regret his decision because he saw Harry and Hermione holding hands.

Ron nodded his head. “I told you I needed time to think about it all, well, I thought about it and I'm in.”

“You're also stupid jealous.” Harry pointed out quickly when a first year trotted over to them to ask Hermione something.

Sparing Hermione a quick look, Ron nodded slowly. “I know you're not interested in her, and that's not what it's about anymore.” He said softly. “It's both of you. It's always been the three of us and suddenly you two are huddled together all of the time and you won't speak to me and I hate not being...”

“In the adventure with us?” Harry asked just as softly, with a knowing look.

Ron snorted. “I know it's stupid, but I'm in this with you guys. We're a team.” He stated firmly.

“Alright then.” Harry said with a nod and jerked his head towards the boy's dormitories when Hermione looked up at them as they moved past her. She nodded and held up five fingers before turning her attention back to the first year.

Harry took the moments before sitting across from Ron in their dorm to take a few good deep breaths to center himself. It wasn't that he was afraid of telling another person his story (he was bloody _terrified_) it was more that he was afraid of losing Ron over his preference. Neither of them had brought it up after Hermione had outed him and a part of him was incredibly grateful for that, but this conversation was going to be different. And he was scared. He only hoped Ron would give him the time he needed to explain everything because he really didn't want to lose his best friend.

~~~~~~

“Snape? I mean...Snape?” Ron asked after a long silence that had left Harry wondering if he had broken Ron.

“Yes, thank you Ronald, we get it, Snape.” Hermione said as she popped up from a book she had been reading while Ron was thinking it all through.

“Ok, but...Snape? _Mate_.” Ron said with a hefty dose of judgment that irritated Harry just enough to frown at his best friend.

“He's good at what he does.” Harry said with a shrug.

“He'd have to be.” Ron muttered darkly before changing the subject once he glanced at Harry's murderous face. “So besides everything you two have done already, what's next on the list?”

“Setting up a meeting with Aurora Blakely.” Harry stated firmly. “I'm going to send her an owl tomorrow morning.”

“Then we just wait for her reply.” Hermione added.

“Not to mention all the letters I have to send to make sure Professor McGonagall doesn't get suspicious.” Harry added a little glumly. It really was a lot of names and he wasn't relishing having to write one letter out at least a hundred times over. He brightened a little when he thought of using his new magic short cut to help him out.

“Sure, but you can't just meet a woman as an underage teenager. Sends the wrong message doesn't it?” Ron told them.

“What?” “So?” They both asked simultaneously.

“Get your Lordship first.” Ron said simply. “Not only will you be considered an adult in the eyes of the law, but you'll have status and actual weight behind your name.”

“And how does that help us?” Hermione asked in confusion.

“He'll be Lord Potter.” Ron said slowly. “Not only that, but he's The-Boy-Who-Lived. You need all the protection you can have for whatever Malfoy and Snape are planning.”

“Just Snape actually.” Harry interjected. He still didn't like Malfoy senior all that much, but for Draco's sake he was willing to give the man a chance.

“Why does that even matter?” Hermione questioned, clearly puzzled on where Ron was going with this. Harry was glad Hermione had brought it up because he wasn't sure he was clear about this either.

Ron frowned in thought. “If you graduated last year and out of the blue get an owl from a really famous teenager that's still in school, what would you think?”

“That he likes me.” Hermione stated swiftly.

“That it's addressed to the wrong person.” Harry said just as quickly.

“That he has something he wants to give me.” Hermione guessed.

“That he's out to get me.” Harry put in.

“That he has a question only I can answer.” Hermione stated.

“That he's going to blackmail me.” Harry jumped in.

“Right.” Ron said slowly before they could continue, eyeing them both as he shook his head in disbelief. “Which is why you can't just show up without having your Lordship.”

“I'm confused.” Harry sighed out and Hermione nodded in agreement.

“Harry, as a teenager, wouldn't be believed.” Ron said slowly. “Harry, as a Lord and a voting member of one of our most important institutions, would be.”

“So it's a matter of importance?” Hermione asked intrigued.

“No, it’s a matter of status and believability. Blakely would accept the meeting because it's Harry, but wouldn't listen to him because he's Harry. His word carries more weight once he has his Lordship.”

“That's...a little insulting if I'm being honest.” Harry said slowly.

“So, what, I'm never going to be taken seriously?” Hermione asked, outraged and ready to launch into a rant.

“Not as a sixteen year old you're not.” Ron stated with a pointed look and taking the wind right out of her sails.

“Is that why Snape wants to keep me in the dark about my Lordship?” Harry asked, still not completely confident that that was the right answer. It felt as if they were missing something but he just couldn't figure out what it was.

Ron shrugged helplessly. “Honestly? We have no idea what Snape has planned, we only know that he doesn't want you to even know of your Lordship in the first place. The only logical thing to do in this case would be to go get it.”

“The sooner the better?” Harry asked, already knowing the answer.

“Whatever he's planning, he needs you in the dark. The longer you put this off, the more danger you'll be in mate. Don't know why you didn't do it sooner.”

Harry winced. “I was putting it off.” He admitted. “It didn't seem as important as finding out who Blakely was and getting back into his quarters to get to the box.”

Not entirely true. He was having problems finding out exactly what he didn't know that everybody knew but couldn't tell him. The problem, like all things usually were, was that the information wasn't actually there. As in, it didn't exist. Everybody knew about it because families had traditions in which a child was raised to know these things. It had never occurred to these people that maybe they should write this down just in case.

On the other hand, Harry's case was (and he really hated to say this) special. His godfather and closest magical family member was Sirius and he had been in prison when he was growing up. The Potter's had all died out and if there were any in-laws, Harry didn't know about them. So he was an orphan who grew up in the muggle world with no knowledge of the great big secret he was supposed to know but didn't. He was an anomaly in the Wizarding world. His situation just didn't happen and so he was perpetually in the dark. As always.

Ron nodded. “I get it, but if he didn't want you knowing something or doing it, that kind of means you should have put it first.”

“I was going to get it done during the Christmas holidays.” Harry confessed. “I need an excuse not to spend it with Snape and a way to keep everyone from finding out that I've been to Gringotts.”

Hermione and Ron shared a look. “It's not a bad idea.” Ron started slowly.

“But?” Harry prodded.

“Christmas time in Diagon Alley is one of the busiest times of the year.” Ron told him. “The only way this would work would be after our exams and before the train leaves for the holidays.” He said as he tried to figure it out while he was explaining it to Harry. “It would also have to be really early in the morning or really late at night.”

“You'd also need an excuse that would get you out of the castle because...” Hermione hesitated before she trailed off.

“Because I don't actually have a family to go home to.” Harry finished with an eye roll. The Dursley's _really_ didn't count.

“So.” Ron stated. “It's simple really. We have a timeframe for you to get your Lordship before the train leaves and you have to come up with some sort of excuse to not be at the castle for Christmas.”

“So simple.” Harry echoed faintly.

Hermione giggled before she shook herself back to calm. “We can actually use the Dursley's as an excuse.” She said, looking at the two boys.

Harry snorted in derision. “As if. No way they would ever want me home for the holidays.”

Hermione rolled her eyes. “That's not what I said. What if the Dursley's want to make sure you're doing alright after Sirius died? What if they wanted you home because they cared like that?”

“But they don't.” Ron pointed out in confusion.

“Of course they don't! But no one else but us knows that.” Hermione said slyly. “Did you ever mention the Dursley's to Snape?” She asked Harry.

Harry winced as he shook his head. “I try my best to never even think about them.”

“Well there you go.” Hermione said as if it solved all their problems.

“And then where would I go?” Harry asked, pointing out the most obvious flaw in her plan. “I can't exactly actually go to the Dursley's and I can't go to either yours or Ron's because someone would know and,” he stated loudly when Hermione looked like she would interrupt, “I don't want to even risk it. We've come too far already for it to all come down around us. He can't know and I won't chance it.”

“There's a possibility that you could have property left to you by either your parents or Sirius.” Ron said slowly as he thought of the problem.

“That's a big gamble.” Harry replied. “And that’s even supposing they’re livable because Sirius took me to his family’s townhouse once and...well, it was bad.”

They both nodded at him. “But what's the alternative?” Ron asked. “Staying here at the castle and having to spend time with Snape?”

“Or wandering the streets for two weeks because I don't have another option.” Harry stated blandly.

Hermione rolled her eyes. “Don't be so dramatic. If it gets to that then you go to a hotel. Warm bed, room service, the works.”

Harry snorted. “As if I even have the money for that.” This time Ron snorted, then outright laughed. “What?” Harry asked, a little offended.

“Mate.” Ron stated, shaking his head. “I know you don't know all of this stuff yet, but having a Lordship also gives you access to any vaults from the people in your line.”

“My line?” Harry asked in confusion.

“Family line. So if one of the Potter's died but still had money in his, or her, vault, it would automatically go to the main family vault unless it was left to someone in a will. Trust me, you'll have enough money to spend two weeks in a hotel.”

“Alright, so if all else fails, it's hotel time for me. I suppose that's one problem down. What about actually getting my Lordship? Getting out won't be a problem.” Harry stated as he pulled out his invisibility cloak. “The problem is what time since I can't be missed. And the day. Do we know when the train leaves?”

“After breakfast, same as every year.” Ron stated before turning to Hermione. “Do we know the date it leaves yet?”

Hermione's eyes grew larger at that. “Of course! I'm a Prefect!”

“Like we could ever forget.” Ron mumbled quietly before sharing a grin with Harry.

Hermione whipped out a small notebook she kept in her pocket and quickly flipped the pages. “It leaves on the twenty-second. We don't have the time yet,” She said looking up at them again, “but it does always leave some time after breakfast.”

“So depending on what day classes end...” Harry trailed off as Hermione jumped back into action.

“Classes end on the twenty-first.” Hermione told them. “That's Friday and the train leaves on Saturday.”

“That's not a whole lot of time.” Harry hedged. “When would I even go? The night before or the morning of?”

Hermione and Ron shared a look. “I'm thinking morning.” Ron said finally, but Hermione instantly shook her head.

“No, it'll have to be evening.”

“Helpful, that.” Harry chimed in, a little peeved.

“If he goes in the morning he can jump in and out with the least amount of people there.” Ron pointed out.

“And if he goes in the evening then he has all the time he needs in case something goes wrong.” Hermione countered. “Not to mention the fact that people will be too tired from their shopping to want to be outside for very long once it gets dark.”

“That would make sense if they didn't keep the shops open longer during the holiday season.” Ron stated.

“How do you know that?” Hermione asked with a frown.

“Fred and George.” Ron answered with a shrug.

“Alright.” Harry interjected. “So, we go with the morning option and hope it doesn't take too long. Should we make a plan in case it does and I'm missed?”

“Bathroom.” Hermione said instantly. “You ate something wonky, you poor thing you.”

“Packing.” Ron added. “You've got stuff all over the place and you really need to find it all before going home because you forgot you needed to pack and you may be in a panic right now.”

The three of them beamed at each other. “Brilliant.” Harry said happily. All he really needed now was for it to not go tits up.

~~~***~~~

“Pot-Harry.” Draco said with a formal nod. “I got our permission.”

“Permission?” Harry asked, clueless to what he was talking about but happy to have some time with Draco.

Ever since he had suggested they go on a date, they had both made more of an effort to meet with the other person. Sometimes it was only for a few minutes and sometimes it was for a few hours, but it was more than enough time to start to get to know each other better. Harry had no shame in admitting that he was falling for Draco, something he hadn't thought possible after Snape.

In truth, Snape might not have ripped his heart out, but the man had done considerable damage to his trust, not to mention the hit his confidence had taken. It wasn’t as if there were a horde of people after him and if he was being completely honest his disastrous date with Cho had made him realize that he was a lot more awkward than he had thought. It made dating sound as appealing as spending more time with Snape.

That’s not to say he wasn’t asked out, it was just that the people who actually did ask him out (Romilda Vane) wanted him purely for his name and it made him more than a little uncomfortable.

With Snape he had thought he had finally found someone to look past all the masks he had and look at the real person. Not the Boy-Who-Lived, but Harry. The trust he had given Snape during their fake relationship had meant something to Harry. He had grown confident during their time together and had thought he had finally found a little piece of happiness just his own. To find out that it had all been a lie? That confidence had been blown to bits and the hurt that had come after was more than a little crippling.

Which was why dating Draco frightened him so much. Draco was real. Draco (while perhaps a little reluctant to believe Harry's intentions) wanted this relationship to work and put in as much effort and thought in as Harry did. It was still very much early stages, mind, but Harry could see it. Could see a life with Draco, could see a future and happiness and children and grand children and old age. He saw a reality he could make real and it made his heart beat in anticipation of what was still to come. He knew now the differences between what he had thought he had felt with Snape and what he knew he felt with Draco.

Where he hadn’t been sure he had been falling for Snape, he was sure now that he was falling in love with Draco.

“For our date. We'll be leaving tomorrow at five o'clock and having dinner at the Three Broomsticks.” Draco said, interrupting Harry’s thoughts.

“We can leave school grounds?” Harry asked, both excited and bewildered at the thought of not only having some real private time with Draco, but that he was allowed to have private time with Draco.

Draco snorted in derision. “Of course we can, we're sixth years.” He said as if Harry should know what he was talking about. Once he noticed the look on Harry's face (which was no doubt confusion because he honestly had no idea that was a thing and he was definitely going to ask Hermione about this), Draco's features softened. “Sixth years are allowed to ask to go to Hogsmeade on weekends if there are no examinations coming up.” He explained softly, stepping closer to Harry and lowering his voice just a little. “Seventh years are allowed to leave whenever they like as long as they sign out and let their head of house know they're leaving. Seventh year privilege.” He said with a shrug.

“That's nice for them.” Harry said softly, unable to tear his eyes away from Draco's and marveling at how close they were standing. He flicked his eyes down and hesitated before slowly reaching out and gently grabbing Draco's hand in his. Draco twitched a little but watched Harry with as much caution as Harry was in taking Draco's hand. “You don't want to go somewhere...fancier?” Harry asked, flicking his eyes from Draco's hand up to his eyes and back again.

Draco shook his head. “If we go somewhere fancy, people will talk. You want to figure out if we can fit, if we can work. It will be busy and noisy and people will ignore us.” He said with a shrug.

Harry looked up again and gave him a big smile before a sudden, and horrific, thought popped into his brain. Honestly, his brain was the worst; they were having a moment for Merlin's sake!

“When you said that you got permission,” Harry started, “did you get it from Snape? Him being your head of house and all?” Harry asked, barely holding his breath.

If Snape knew Draco had a date, he might ask Draco who his date was or even wait in the entrance hall to see Draco's date so he could report back to his father and then ruin all of his plans! Oh fucking fuck! This was terrible! If Snape knew then everything they had done up till now was useless!

Draco grunted and rolled his eyes. “Merlin no! I waited two whole days so I wouldn't have to ask him.”

Harry had no idea relief could ever feel this good. “Two days?” He asked a little breathlessly because he was still having problems breathing as flashes of averted disaster scenarios flashed before his eyes.

“Snape is terrible at this sort of thing. He always says no and then glares at you until you go away. _Nobody_ asks him when it's his turn for the sign up.” Draco said, twinning his fingers around Harry's and avoiding his eyes.

“I thought you just went to your own head of house and asked permission from them?”

“Hm? No, it's on a rotation basis because not all teachers have time to spare. Having to question all of the sixth years that want to go out would clash with the students that come by for actual help, not to mention their own work they have to do. So they set up teachers on a rotation basis per month. They have specific times you can come by if you only want to leave the castle. It was Flitwick's turn today so I waited.” Draco explained, still playing with Harry's fingers and not looking up.

Harry was immensely grateful that his little freak-out hadn't ruined the moment. He liked this moment.

“So we could go on a date?” Harry asked, something warm unfurling in his heart.

“How else are we supposed to try this?” Draco asked with a shrug.

Harry was doomed and he knew it. The fact that Draco had gone out of his way like this because he knew what Harry had meant and wanted filled his heart with hope and joy. They still had several things to talk about, talk through, but there was trying on both sides, wanting from both sides, and a desire to make this work, make it last. He wanted them to last. Figured they already found some kind of common ground to build from or they wouldn't be here now, both of them trying so hard and both of them terrified the other would eventually decide they weren’t worth it after all.

“We could have lunch together? I know where the kitchens are.” Harry asked instead, not wanting to give up spending time with Draco just yet. Hermione and Ron could find something else to do for a little while.

“I like lunch.” Draco said before flushing a nice pink and quickly clearing his throat. “I mean, we could lunch. Together. With us.”

“Us together is good.” Harry said, stepping even closer. “Food is good.” Was he standing too close? Because he really liked being this close to Draco but he completely understood if it was too much for the other man. Maybe they were moving too quickly?

“Uh-huh. Good food.” Draco said, leaning in those last few centimeters and brushing his lips against Harry's before leaning back a little. “Together.” He whispered before leaning back in and pressing his lips more firmly against Harry's. Harry swore there were fireworks before he melted into the kiss and gripped Draco's hand tighter before they separated.

“I really want this to work.” He said suddenly, looking at Draco with big eyes and too much hope.

Draco gave him a blinding smile back before pecking him softly on the lips. “Then we should definitely have lunch before our date.” He stated before tugging Harry down the hallway with no idea where he was going.

Harry just beamed at him. Yeah, he knew he was hopeless, but for once in his life he didn't even mind it in the least.

~~~~~~

“Oh wow.” Blaise said, a little stunned. “They're terrible.”

Theo sighed next to him. “I did warn you.”

“I mean, we both know how Draco can get but I had no idea Potter was even in the same league.” Blaise went on, completely ignoring Theo's comment. “They're honestly, completely and horribly, a disaster waiting to happen!”

Theo rolled his eyes and leaned against the wall before looking back over at Potter and Draco, now standing so close he wondered how they hadn't kissed yet, and nope, there it was, a kiss.

“Whoop.” Theo said lowly as not to draw attention to them, although he doubted anything could break through the little bubble they had created. “Too late now.”

“Why is he doing this to us?” Blaise asked, a note of incredulity lacing through his voice. “Does he think this is fun for us? All those nights listening to him going on and on and on about Potter this and Potter that and now suddenly he's in love?!”

“I was there you know.” Theo said mildly.

“They're never going to get through this without us.” Blaise said suddenly, standing up straight with a determined face.

“I think they're doing just fine. Look, they're even back to holding hands. That's kind of cute.”

“Draco's going to screw this up. We need to help him. Maybe give him notes on what he should talk about during his date.”

“That's a terrible idea.” Theo remarked with a frown. “We're not actually going to do that are we?”

“You've seen them!” Blaise cried out, gesturing wildly at the couple that had somehow disappeared without either of them knowing. “They just spent the last six years flirting and they didn't even know they were flirting.”

“_We_ didn't even know they were flirting.” Theo pointed out. “How were they supposed to know if we didn't?”

“Not the point.” Blaise waived away as he urged Theo to follow him back to their common room.

“I dread to think what the point is.” Theo mumbled as he caught up to Blaise.

“We're going to make sure they get married.” Blaise declared. “Because if they don't we might just kill them both.”

Theo really wanted to object but having been on the receiving end of every possible variation of the 'Harry hates me' speech, he was very willing to hand the reigns over to Potter. There was no way either of them could live with Draco if this went south. They could handle the variations of 'he's mine and perfect' but if they had to listen to Draco complain about Potter for the rest of their lives...? Someone was dying. Preferably Draco, the prat.

~~~~~~

“Oh look at them!” Hermione gushed, her hands laced together underneath her chin. “Aren't they cute?” She asked Ron, leaning against him and looking up at him.

“Yep. Cute. Adorable. So pretty.” He said breathlessly, leaning closer to her and winding an arm around to waist. To make sure she didn't fall over, of course.

Hermione suddenly frowned and he had the urge to wipe away the frown lines. “They're both clueless idiots though. Should we help Harry with his date?” She asked, starting to get excited about helping Harry.

Ron almost choked on his own spit. “No. Absolutely not. Never going to happen.”

“Why not?” Hermione asked in dismay. “He's no good at this sort of thing.”

Ron snorted in mirth at the understatement. He remembered the disaster of a date with Cho. “Of course he's terrible! On the bright side, it turns out that Malfoy is terrible at this too.”

“How is that a good thing?” She asked, turning in to him a little.

Ron tried his best not to melt on the spot. “They can figure it out themselves; it might even bring them closer together.”

Hermione's eyes went wide and she turned startled eyes to Ron. “That's...that's really good of you to say.”

Ron smiled proudly. “The only thing we need to do is get him dressed and out the door on time. The rest he can screw-ahem-make up himself.”

Hermione gave him a narrowed eye look of suspicion but shook her head with a little smile and let it go. “I can just imagine the date already! Just staring at each other in wonder without saying a single thing.” She said before she doubled over in laughter.

Ron smiled at his girlfriend in wonder. He still couldn't quite believe that this wonderful, amazing, beautiful woman had chosen him. “Maybe we could go on a date too?” He asked hopefully.

“I would like that. We really shouldn't laugh though.” Hermione said, as she wiped away a tear of laughter. “It's very mean.”

Ron gave her an incredulous look. “Hermione. The man has only just now figured out he likes someone whose sole purpose in life was to be noticed by Harry. Six years and he didn't notice! If Snape hadn't come along he'd never have known. Who knows how Malfoy would have tried to keep his attention once we left Hogwarts!” Ron said aghast, already thinking of ways in which Malfoy would never leave Harry alone.

“Flecks of green, haven't you noticed?” Hermione said, trying to imitate Harry's voice before giggling madly.

“Please.” Ron begged. “Let's forget all about his disaster of a dating life and enjoy ours instead. Maybe over dinner?”

Hermione smiled brightly at Ron. “Deal.” She said and leaned up to kiss him.

Ron wasn't quite sure what happened for the next few (ten? Was it fifteen?) minutes. All he knew was that he had the prettiest girl in his arms and that he was happy. Harry could fix his own problems for a while.

~~~~~~

They had both ordered their drinks and were waiting in embarrassed silence, looking at each other before quickly looking away when they noticed the other was looking too.

Draco cleared his voice when the silence stretched too long for his liking. “So, what are your intentions towards me?”

“What?” Harry asked bewildered. What kind of a question was that? Was that really a question people asked on dates? Should Harry have questions too? Oh Merlin, was he going to _fail_ the date?!

“Your intentions. What are they?” Draco pressed.

“I thought we went over this already?” Harry asked in confusion and a little panic.

“Yes, well, no, I meant,” Draco looked down at his hands before looking up again, “in the long term.”

“The long term?” Harry echoed bemused now, really not sure where this was going and slightly relieved that he could go on questioning Draco about his question so that maybe Draco wouldn’t mind that he didn’t have any questions.

“Where do you want this to go?” Draco pressed, looking intently at Harry.

“Go?” That was it, Harry was giving up. He had no idea what was happening, but it was confusing and awkward and he didn't like it.

“As in, do you see a long term relationship? With me. Is this a fling? Is this just a bit of fun to you?” Draco asked, leaning in slightly as if to emphasis how important his questions were.

“Aren't we just supposed to see if we can even get along?” Harry asked weakly. If these were Draco’s questions then anything he could think of now wouldn’t be very good. Maybe they could talk quidditch? Those were always good questions right?

Draco rolled his eyes. “We get along.”

“No, we have great chemistry because you're an amazing snog and I really like you.”

Draco turned a lovely pink and tried to hide a smile. Realizing he was smiling he frowned and shook his head. “That's why I have these questions!” He stated, brandishing a small list in front of Harry's face.

“Have...have you written down questions you want to ask me?” Harry asked, a little shocked but also suddenly very amused. Draco had prepared for their date. Not even just thinking of questions, but actually writing them down. It wasn’t a test, he just wanted to be sure that they spoke about the things that Harry was worried about.

The knowledge that Draco would go through all this trouble just to make sure that they talked about all the important things they needed to made Harry relax and smile. He hadn't even realized that he had started to tense up when Draco had started to question him. Well, bombard him with questions really.

“Of course I do!” Draco stated, obviously embarrassed by outing himself but valiantly ignoring it. “You said this was important to see if we could even make this work. How else would we know?”

“By talking to each other?” Harry asked with raised eyebrows. Why was Draco making this so difficult?

“And what would you like to talk about? The weather?” Draco snarked as he crossed his arms and pouted.

“No,” Harry started slowly, “more like what you want to do when you leave Hogwarts. No, wait, I know that one.”

“You do?” Draco asked, abandoning his angry glare at the patrons seated at table next to theirs in order to look at Harry with surprise he tried to hide.

“We've talked about it, remember? You want to go into politics like your father.” Harry said with a shrug.

“You listened?” Draco asked in astonishment.

“Don't you?”

“Of course I do!” Draco said, insulted. “You want to be an auror and if that fails you wouldn't mind going for a Defense mastery.”

Harry beamed at him. “So where do you see us in five years?” He asked partly in jest.

“With you.” Draco said promptly, no sign of joking in his face.

Harry swallowed thickly. “I want to marry you.” He blurted out before trying not to cringe.

Draco's mouth dropped open in shock. “What?”

“That's where I see this going. It's not a bit of fun, it's not a fling. I really want to try this with you. And yes,” Harry started before Draco could comment, “I'm fully aware we have a lot of things to discuss and work out and that we’re only sixteen and a lot can happen in the future and we have no way of knowing that this is forever, but that’s what this is for me. That’s where I see this going.”

“Like what?” Draco prompted.

“What?” Harry asked in confusion.

“You said we have things to work out and discuss. Like what?”

“Pureblood mania? The fact that you hate my friends? That we've essentially been bullying each other since first year? We have to talk about these things.”

“You hate my friends too, and you're prejudiced against our culture.” Draco pointed out, frowning heavily at Harry.

“Exactly why we needed this date. If we can't work this out, why are we trying?” Harry said with a firm nod.

“So.” Draco hedged. “Where do we start?”

Harry smiled at him, relaxing again because he finally knew for sure, despite all their previous talks and time spent together, that they really were trying to make this work. That both of them are treating this like it was important and something special. He hoped that after tonight they could relax a little, that maybe this would set down a firm foundation of trust that they could both rely on.

“Let's start with your list.” Harry said, motioning towards the parchment that Draco had brought with him.

“I thought you didn't like the list?” Draco asked with narrow-eyed suspicion.

Harry snorted. “I don't mind the list, I just didn't realize we needed one. So what's the first question?” He pressed, now happy in the knowledge he wasn’t going to fail the date.

Draco looked like he wanted to say something but shook his head and changed his mind, looking down at the list before putting it between them. “What are your intentions towards me?”

“It used to be to see if we could make this work, if we could fit despite our history.” Harry answered, gesturing between the two of them. “Now I suppose I'd rather like to see where this goes.”

“What do you mean?” Draco asked, and Harry could see that he was trying very hard not to judge him before he heard the answer. It made him proud of Draco for trying, made him want to try harder himself.

“I mean I think I'd like to ask you to be my boyfriend.” Harry said slowly, as if trying out the words at the same time he was saying them. Telling Draco he wanted to marry him was one thing, especially since it was so far into the future and they were still young. Boyfriend, on the other hand, was something far more tangible for both of them. It let them both know exactly where they stood.

Still, it did worry him. Was it too much too soon? Was he moving too quickly? Was he sure this was even what he wanted? They hadn't really had any time to talk things through, and suddenly here he was, asking Draco to be his boyfriend. The thing was though, that this felt right. It felt like the right time and that, despite not yet answering all of the list questions, this would work.

“You-I-want.” Draco stuttered out and Harry was suddenly very aware that he may have possibly broken the man he was falling for.

“What did you do?” A voice said, jolting Harry out of his concern. He looked up in confusion as Blaise and Theo suddenly appeared at their table. “Did you break his heart?” Blaise asked, menace dripping from his very being.

“What?” Harry asked, a little scared and a lot confused. What the hell were Draco's friends doing here? Where they watching? He really hoped not because that was beyond creepy. “What are you even doing here?” He asked, ignoring Blaise's question.

“Making sure you two don't mess this up!” Blaise gripped. “Which apparently you’ve already done! Now what did you do to Draco?”

“I voted to stay at the castle.” Theo piped up.

Harry rolled his eyes and wondered if he could count this as Draco's fault. They were his bloody friends after all. “I didn't do anything, I just asked if he wanted to be my boyfriend.”

“Oh, of course you did! All that time spent building him up and now you're just going to break his he- wait what?” Blaise asked, blinking in surprise while Theo was shaking his head and sighing deeply.

“All I wanted was a nice quiet night.” Theo lamented to the ceiling. “But nooo, we had to follow the two of you.”

“I don't know what's going on here,” Harry said slowly, “but could you please leave? Because this is seriously disturbing and you two should be ashamed of watching us.”

Theo snorted. “Oh please, like your friends are any better.”

“What are you talking about now?” Harry asked suddenly tired and very afraid of the answer.

“They're over there, Potter.” Theo said with a jerk of his head.

“Over where?”

Theo pointed to a table at the other end of the room. Harry followed the pointed finger until his eyes made contact with a blushing Hermione and a Ron who was staring very hard at the ceiling.

“Are. You. _Serious_.” Harry stated, seething. He stood up and walked over to his two best friends until he stood in front of their table, arms crossed and glaring from one guilty face to the other. “What, exactly, do you two think you're doing?”

“Having a date?” Hermione tried weakly.

“Try again.” Harry replied in a hard voice causing Hermione to wince and look at Ron in desperation.

“It wasn't my idea and I didn't want to do it.” Ron stated, throwing his girlfriend to the wolves. “All I wanted was a nice date with my girlfriend, I swear!”

“Ron!” Hermione yelled, outraged.

“What? I told you he'd know we were here! This was a bad idea and I warned you!” He told her sternly, crossing his arms and frowning at her as if he hadn't had a choice in following Harry on his date.

“Yes, but you don't have to tell him that it was my idea!” Hermione replied in outrage.

“Why not? He already knew we were here!” Ron pointed out.

“Well, how else were we supposed to know how the date went?” Hermione questioned with a touch of impatience.

“Oh, I dunno, maybe ask him like a normal friend?” Ron asked sarcastically.

Harry could honestly not believe what was happening. His two best friends had actually gone and followed him to…what? Make sure the date went well? And he had thought Blaise and Theo were being creepy. Harry sighed loudly and rolled his eyes before walking away and leaving them with their argument. Coming back to his table he noticed that Draco was in a very similar argument with his friends and suddenly he had enough.

“Draco.” He called, stopping the conversation in mid-sentence. “Do you want to get out of here?”

“Yes!” Draco almost shouted, glaring at his friends with a strong amount of hatred that Harry was sure used to be reserved for him.

“Great. Maybe then we can have an actual date where we don't get ambushed by a bunch of idiots.” He said, giving Blaise and Theo a hard stare.

Blaise looked like he was trying to be embarrassed as Theo was giving Blaise a side-eyed look of death. Not his problem, Harry figured.

“Where do you want to go?” Draco asked after he had gotten up, snaking his hand in Harry's.

“Somewhere quick so we don't run the risk of them following us.” Harry said as they walked out the Three Broomsticks, looking at the surrounding buildings that were still open.

They both grimaced. “Madam Puddifoot's?” They asked together.

It occurred to Harry, sitting in the most horrible of places ever invented, that all those things he thought mattered, didn't. Sitting there with Draco he realized that all the things he worried about were resolving themselves every time they spent any sort of time together. They were getting to know each other, they were making an effort to be open, to be vulnerable, and to let the other person know where they stood. He wasn't afraid they wouldn't work anymore, wasn't afraid that this was just a mistake or some kind of reaction to what Snape had done to him. This was him choosing Draco. Choosing to not only move past Snape (if you ignored the still ongoing plan to ruin his life of course) but to embrace a future where he and Draco would last. Choosing a future that he had control of, one way or the other.

Even if this didn't last, it was real and it was honest and it was more than Harry had ever expected.

~~~~~~

“Hey Harry!” Neville called out brightly as he sat down next to Harry for breakfast. “How was your date last night? I never heard you come in.”

“Hm? Oh, yeah, it was great. Why is Parkinson sitting so close to him?” Harry asked Neville in a distracted manner.

“To who?”

“To Draco. I don't sit that closely to Hermione.” His eyes widened before he glared at the idiot girl from across the room. “And I definitely do not let her play with my hair like that! What is going on? What is she playing at?” He hissed out in anger.

“I don't know, but I'm starting to think I should probably have sat somewhere else.” Neville said as he looked at an empty seat across from Ginny.

“And now she's got her hands on him. How is he supposed to eat with her hanging off his arm like that?” Harry asked, stabbing his plate without looking. Neville winced at the resulting screeching sound and tried to find Ron or Hermione so he wouldn't have to deal with this. He was very much incapable of handling whatever this was.

“I'm sure she's not starving him.” Neville tried.

“Starving him? Of course not.” Harry scoffed. “Can't marry a corpse, can you?” He asked rhetorically.

“You think she's trying to seduce him?” Neville asked, suddenly more interested. He peered over at where Draco and Pansy were sitting before frowning. “It doesn't look like he minds her all that much.”

“Well he should!” Harry stated. “He keeps going on about Ron and Hermione, but ooohhh, when I say anything about his friends? He's going to be hearing about this!”

“Hearing about what?” Ron asked as he sat down, Hermione right behind him.

“Pansy is making moves on Draco and he hasn't done anything to dissuade her.” Neville informed them.

“Not this again.” Ron whined.

“We had a long conversation Harry, remember?” Hermione said sternly as she sat down.

“I remember.” Harry replied sullenly. “Doesn't mean I'm not right. And I still haven't forgiven you two for last night.”

“Doesn't matter if you are or if you aren't, you can't keep doing this to yourself. Plus, you trust Draco, remember?” She added as an afterthought, completely ignoring his last statement.

“Maybe I can hex her!” Harry said suddenly, bright eyed and happy, spitefully ignoring everything Hermione had just said.

“You can't hex her.” Ron woodenly replied, like he had been saying this a lot lately.

“But-” Harry started to object.”

“Listen here Potter.” Ron suddenly growled, pulling Harry in close by tugging the lapels on his uniform. “If you don't want to screw up everything we've been doing and planning lately, you will let Pansy _fucking_ Parkinson think that she has even the smallest amount of a chance with Malfoy, do you hear me?”

“You don't think she has a chance?” Harry asked, trying to peer around Ron but failing miserably.

“Oh for fucks sake!” Ron groaned as he threw up his hands. “That's it, I'm out, let the whole thing just explode in our faces!”

“Pansy doesn't have even a sliver of a chance.” Hermione said as she tried to sooth Harry and calm down an irate Ron. “Now, let's do something more time productive and maybe owl Gringotts to set up a time where you can go and get that thing you wanted?” She hinted.

“Oh! Right, yeah. That's a good idea. Neville, you watch Pansy like a hawk.” Harry instructed as he quickly wrote out a letter to Gringotts explaining what he wanted and asking for an appointment, indicating the preferred date and the times available for that morning.

“Do I have to?” Neville asked, once more looking at the empty seat across from Ginny and wondering if he could make his escape.

“No, I'll do it.” Hermione said, rolling her eyes and nudging Neville out of his seat. Neville quickly got the hint and almost ran away. Ron tried his best not to laugh and was mercifully saved by the arrival of the morning owls. To the surprise of all three of them, an owl dropped in front of Harry and brandished his leg.

“Who's writing to you?” Ron asked, perplexed as Harry took the letter from the owl before giving it a piece of his bacon.

“That's a little hurtful.” He replied with a frown.

“I didn't mean-I was just wondering-you don't really get a lot of mail, do you?” He finished weakly as Harry gave him a hard stare.

“Fuck you.” He stated before turning back to the letter. “Hm, uh-huh, oh, that's nice, hmmmm, that makes sense.” He muttered, fully aware of his audience, before he folded the letter back up and got up from the table.

“Where are you going?” Hermione asked in surprise.

“To class?” Harry asked, because he could do petty just fine, thank you very much.

“What was in the letter?” She questioned him, leaning forward.

“Some parchment.” Harry replied blandly.

“And?” Hermione asked, clearly annoyed she even had to question him further. “What else?”

“Ink, mostly. Can't say what else unless you have a microscope with you.” He stated as he hefted his bag onto his shoulder.

She glared at Harry. “I hate you.”

“I bet that feels about the same as following your best friend on a date without telling him. Not that _my_ friends would do something so heinous, of course.” Harry stated aloofly before walking away from them and towards their first class of the day.

“Now he uses the big words.” Hermione grumbled as she jumped up to follow him.

“Where are you going?” Ron asked mid-bite.

Hermione wrinkled her nose in disgust. “To follow him of course. Come on!”

Ron was already shaking his head. “Nope, not going to happen. I only just sat down. He already ate, I haven't. Besides, it's not as if we don't know where he's going to be.”

“That's hardly the point!” Hermione said, getting worked up.

“You haven't eaten either.” Ron pointed out before he grabbed her arm and forcefully sat her down again. “Eat. Then interrogate.”

“I hate it when you make sense.” Hermione grumbled as she grabbed some toast.

“Savor it while it lasts.” Ron said imperiously.

They finished breakfast incredibly quickly and almost ran towards Charms. Unfortunately Harry was having a conversation with Professor Flitwick and they didn't have a chance to speak to him until after class. Something that drove Hermione up the wall and made Harry sadistically happy.

“So what was in the letter?” She asked, almost pouncing on Harry as they left.

“It was a letter from Blakely. Harry informed them, taking pity on his friends. It had amused him to no end to see Hermione practically vibrating out of her skin while Ron tried to keep her contained. Not that Ron hadn’t given Harry his own fair share of curious/pleading looks, but now that class was over he was more than happy to share. Mostly because he didn’t want to keep this to himself for too long.

“She wrote you!? What did she say?” Hermione whisper-yelled, covertly looking at the people bustling around them as they made their way to Herbology.

“She wants to meet. She has some free time after Christmas so it's a good thing I won't be here.” Harry said in a low voice.

“Do you want us to go with you?” Ron asked.

“No offense, but having all three of us meet her will not only look suspicious but will probably make her think we're ambushing her or something.” Harry told them with a shrug.

“Good point.” Ron replied with an approving nod. Harry most definitely did not preen at the praise.

“And it's not exactly like I told her your names in the letter I sent her either. The less she knows about what's going on right now, the better it is for us.” Harry pointed out.

“So. First the bank, then the Lordship, then Blakely.” Hermione interjected just as they reached the greenhouses.

“And then the revenge.” Harry said darkly before Ron nudged him sharply in the ribs and he yowled in pain causing the whole class to stare at him.

He might have deserved that one.

~~~***~~~

It was a week before their mid-term exams that Hermione decided she wanted to implement the Snape prank. This, naturally, confused the ever-loving hell out of her two friends because she wasn’t known for becoming more relaxed as the exams loomed closer. Which she pointed out only made her seem less guilty since no one would ever think it was her.

Harry, wanting no part in the actual planning part of the prank (he had far too many tells if they ever looked his way), stayed blissfully ignorant of the exact time and details of the prank and thus was more than a little surprised when Hermione slipped in next to him during breakfast that morning and gleefully whispered that the plan was already in motion.

“Do I even want to know?” Harry asked, apprehensive beyond belief.

“Probably not, but everyone will know by the end of the first class.”

“Don’t _we_ have potions first thing?” Harry asked in alarm.

Hermione’s smile only grew larger. “We do.”

“Oh boy.” He muttered quietly to himself, wondering if he could hex himself so he wouldn’t have to go to class.

Sadly, Hermione seemed to catch on to what he was thinking and forced him to finish his breakfast before dragging him (very unwillingly he might add) down to the dungeons.

Harry braced himself for any number of things (Snape in a frilly dress, skin changing colour every hour, _anything_) but he was surprised to find that there was nothing amiss with Snape’s appearance when he walked out of the side door leading to his office.

That was until he smiled at them. A genuine smile.

It terrified them all.

“What is he doing?” Ron asked suspiciously.

“Is that normal?” Dean wondered.

“Is he having a heart attack?” Neville questioned, looking frightened.

“Did someone poison him?” Seamus speculated thoughtfully, not looking like he minded the option at all.

“Should we get help?” Parvati asked, leaning in to speak so Snape wouldn’t hear her.

“Good morning class! Today I thought we might do an easy potion. How about a hair changing potion?” Snape asked jovially and Harry almost fell out of his seat in shock.

“He’s dying. That’s it, he’s dying.” Lavender whispered loudly in dread. “Or maybe he wants to make us all bald!” She screeched in terror, grabbing the top of her hair as if her hair had already begun to fall out.

Luckily for them, Snape didn’t seem to hear her and instead flicked his wand causing the potion recipe to appear on the board. He turned around and gave them all a big grin and urged them to get started. They all slowly and carefully grabbed their ingredients and started making their potions, keeping him in their eye line at all times. Even the Slytherin’s were cautious and more than one of them threw the Gryffindor’s a suspicious look.

“Don’t forget to ask for help if you need it.” Snape reminded them all kindly.

“Did he get a load of galleons or something?” Ron asked, trying not to show how this new Snape unnerved him.

“Maybe he’s quitting?” Neville asked hopefully.

“So he could stop torturing us?” Dean snorted. “Unlikely.”

“Hermione, what did you do?!” Harry whispered fiercely, dread pooling in his stomach.

“Remember how I told you I needed help to track Snape?” Harry could only nod helplessly. “Well, when I told them of the prank, I also told them we were tired of him being a prick. So, what’s the best revenge on someone who can never seem to be nice to people and actually goes out of his way to be cruel and spiteful?”

“Make him be nice?” Harry asked weakly.

Hermione grinned at him proudly. “Exactly!”

“Does he even know what he’s saying?” Harry asked, watching as Snape went around the room and actually gave people the help they needed instead of sneering at their efforts.

“Not in the least. Though I’m sure it will slowly wear off and by dinner he should be back to normal.” Hermione supposed with a shrug of her shoulders.

“Well. That’s something.” Ron said faintly having overheard their quiet conversation.

“Is it weird that I find this scarier than a normal Snape?” Neville asked, looking a little peaky.

“Merlin no.” Seamus said.

“Mr. Longbottom.” Snape suddenly said, standing beside a frozen Neville who could only stare at him in muted terror. “It seems to me that you need some extra help.” Neville made a sound that sounded like a squeak. “Perfect, let’s go over the instructions.” Snape said with a nod, coming to stand next to Neville and giving him one-on-one attention that only made Neville freak out more.

The rest of the class consisted of Snape slowly walking around and giving helpful pointers before coming back to Neville and helping him work through the potion. Harry was sure that Neville was so stressed out by this new Snape that he was doing worse on his potion than usual. Where the old Snape would have snapped at the poor boy, this Snape kept his calm and patience and carefully worked with Neville through the potion, step by step and helping him when he inevitably messed up. By the end of class, each and every student had the required consistency, only a few shades of colour differences amongst them. It was the best their class had ever done and it scared them witless. Even the Slytherin’s seemed to be lost by this new behavior.

“He’s given me more help in two hours than he has in the six years he’s been teaching me.” Neville stated with awe as they left. “I mean, he’s been teaching us, but…” he trailed off.

Harry nodded. “I know what you mean. I think this is the most I’ve learned too.”

“I won’t say you’re welcome, but you’re welcome.” Hermione stated with a smug smirk.

Ron snorted. “’Mione, I don’t think you know what you’ve done. I think you’re about to scare the whole school.”

Hermione waved her hand in a careless manner. “Not the point. The point was to make sure nobody got suspicious of the way we got our Snape information.” Hermione whispered to them, making sure no one else was close enough to hear them. “It didn’t have to be fancy or good, it just needed to work!”

“Well, you’ve done that.” Harry remarked weakly. “I don’t think anyone will forget this in a hurry.”

The rest of the day was spent listening to the whole school slowly become obsessed with the mystery of how Snape turned nice. While it was prominent in everyone’s mind, exams were around the corner and Harry actually managed to forget about the whole thing for a few hours until he walked by Professor McGonagall and Colin Creevey who where having a conversation in the hallway.

“You’re complaining because he’s being _too nice_?” Professor McGonagall asked, a note of incredulity in her voice even as her eyes narrowed in suspicion.

Colin nodded solemnly. “I think he’s sick.”

Harry decided that it was in his best interest to not stick around for that conversation. Hermione simply beamed next to him as they walked down to their last class. Harry and Ron silently decided to never let her plan a prank ever again.

~

Despite Snape being…temporarily out of character, the man had still managed to owl him that night and inform him that he wouldn’t be staying at the castle this holiday season. The letter was filled with regrets and terms of endearment (probably to minimize the sting of disappointment that would have worked if Harry had actually still cared about spending time with him) but Snape simply couldn’t put off his previously made plans.

Harry sighed in relief. Yes, there was a possibility that he would have been able to get around the muggle world on his own for Christmas, but a sixteen year old boy in a hotel on his own? People were going to ask questions that he couldn’t answer or magic away. Even relying on the _slight_ possibility of having houses that belonged to either his parents or Sirius was too much of a gamble for him. Too many unknown factors.

Knowing that Snape had made plans in order to avoid him made Harry’s bones weak in relief. He would have an alibi in case people asked and he could meet Blakely for a few hours without anyone becoming suspicious of his whereabouts. Which wasn’t to say that that wouldn’t have happened if he hadn’t been at Hogwarts, but now he also had the added bonus of being able to deny any rumors of his appearance in the magical world since he was safely ensconced in the castle.

He was ready to start his war with Snape.

~~~***~~~

Getting to the bank on a normal day would have been fine. Sneaking out of Hogsmeade so early it was still actually late in the evening to catch the Knight bus and whisking yourself away to London while assuring the driver that, yes actually, you were allowed to go because you were summoned by the goblins made life a whole lot more complicated than necessary.

Thankfully they shut up after Harry mentioned the goblins. Probably the smartest thing to do since no-one really liked getting on their bad sides.

Of course he only had a few hours to get everything done that needed to be done, and even with the Knight bus it had taken Harry longer than he would have liked. Half an hour of jumping across the country wasn't helping his nerves.

Yes, ok, it was three in the morning, but if he wanted to get this done before breakfast and still actually attend breakfast, then he only had a short five hours. And that apparently now included extra travel time. He really hoped the return trip wouldn't take that long or he was fucked.

Thankfully he was here now. Staring at a goblin who stared unnervingly back. Which wasn't terrifying. At all. In any way. Not a one. He had an appointment!

“Mr. Potter.” The goblin, Blackrack if Harry remembered correctly, sneered.

“Hello.” Harry said, giving the goblin a little wave which he instantly regretted after the goblin glared at him. Harry cleared his voice. “Right. Yes. I-um-I'm here to take up my Lordship?”

After weeks of studying, he knew the basics (as little as they were) and knew how to ask for what he was after, but he still had no idea what was going to happen and why bloody nobody could just tell him!

Blackrack snorted and wrote something down, flicked his wrist after he finished writing creating a small blast of light and waited thirty seconds before another blast of light appeared on the desk and two small jewelry boxes materialized where the parchment had been before. Blackrack opened both of them, inspected them, then handed them over to Harry.

“Put them on, Potter first, then Black. Be quick about it boy!” He snarled at Harry when all he did was look at the rings in confusion.

This was it? This was the big secret no one was willing to tell him? Oh he was going to rage about this later. He snorted and jammed the Potter ring on the ring finger of his right hand before grabbing the Black ring and shoving it on the ring finger of his left hand. He had just finished sliding it into place when Blackrack choked out a gasp of horror.

“What have you done?” The goblin screeched.

“Put on the rings like you asked me to?” Harry said in confusion, feeling a pressure build behind his eyes. Was he getting a headache? Or was this was a migraine felt like? He probably should have gone to bed earlier, he lamented.

“I told you to put them on one at a time!” Blackrack yelled at him, his voice a tinge higher and more gravelly than before.

“And I did.” Harry said slowly. Hadn't Blackrack seen him put them on? And it wasn't like you could put two rings on two different hands at the same time. Could you? Well, he supposed you could but it must look funny and be a bit useless.

“You must wait for the family magic to activate!” Blackrack said, horror still etched on his face and rousing Harry from his thoughts.

“What the hell is family magic?” Harry asked in confusion. He didn't think it was possible, but the horror seemed to deepen as Blackrack lost all colour. That was usually a bad sign.

“You are untrained?” He gasped out. Harry was now worried about his air intake. Or the amount of shock he was putting the poor goblin through. Ah well, best get them used to dealing with him early on, Harry figured.

“Yes?” Harry asked before the pressure became overwhelming and he just needed a moment to close his eyes. When he blinked his eyes open again, he was standing and surrounded by people. “Oh”. He startled, a little taken aback. “Hello.”

A man to his right chuckled. “Hello Harry.”

Harry turned to the man. He looked vaguely familiar. “Do I know you?” He looked at the other people that surrounded him and frowned. “Actually, do I know all of you? And...where am I?” He asked as he looked around. Not that there was much to see, since he was surrounded by white space.

“My name is Fleamont Potter.” The man said. He poked his thumb in the direction of the man next to him. “This is my father, Charlus Potter.” We are in a wizarding space.

“Aha.” Harry said with a nod.

Charlus Potter snorted. “It means that the essence of every Lord Potter is stored in a safe magical room where no one other than a Potter can enter. Though it is entirely in one's mind. To be honest, I'm not quite sure how it works.” Charlus said with a thoughtful frown.

“Magic?” Harry asked a little sarcastically, looking around at all the faces that were looking right back at him. This was his family. These were the people he was related to. Maybe in another life he would have known at least Fleamont, maybe even Charlus if he had been lucky. He had family. A history, people who he belonged to. Someone who could have loved him, protected him, cherished him. Someone he could have loved as a parent.

“Hooo...Is everyone here a Potter?” Harry asked faintly, more than a little overwhelmed and trying not to let it show. This was definitely not how he had seen his day going.

Fleamont nodded with a small smile.

“And my dad?” Harry asked. “James Potter?” The growing hope evident in his voice.

Fleamont's small smile turned sad. “He never took up the mantle of Lord, Harry.”

“I...what does that mean? Does that matter? Why would that mean I couldn't see him?”

“Harry.” Charlus said, a little gruffly but no less comforting. “This is place to learn of the family magic, of the secrets that reside in our line, secrets only the Potter's know.”

Harry nodded with a sudden clarity. “He never had a chance with the war, did he?” For a single heartbeat all he wanted to do was curl up in a ball and cry. He wanted to be somewhere safe where he could grieve for the father he never got a chance to have, for the disappointment of not seeing him.

What would he have sounded like? Would he have been taller than Harry? Was his voice deeper? What did his laugh sound like? Or his facial hair. Did it grow quickly or was it patchy? Maybe he couldn't grow one at all, or maybe he didn't even like having facial hair. Was his hair always a wind-swept-hurricane look or did he purposely do that? What did his hugs feel like? Would Harry have felt surrounded? Could he have snuggled into the hug? Would he have hugged Harry tight or just given him a pat on the back? Would he have been proud of Harry? Had he loved Harry? Would he still have loved Harry knowing who he was dating?

Why? Why had his father not become a Lord? Why had he taken this chance away from Harry? Why didn't he love Harry enough to even leave an 'essence' of himself in a place he would have known Harry would one day be? Why hadn't he loved Harry enough to live? Why hadn't they fought harder to stay with him? And he knew, _he knew_, that wasn't true. He knew how hard they had fought Voldemort, how hard they had protected him but the fact was that they weren't here, his father wasn't here. Why wasn't he good enough, why wasn't he enough for them to stay?

He tried valiantly not to let anything show on his face, but a tear fell down against his will and before Harry could even contemplate stopping the rest of them, they all came flooding out. The men surrounding him only gave him saddened looks as Fleamont gathered him in his arms.

“I'm so sorry Harry.” He murmured softly as he tried to sooth Harry.

Charlus came to Harry's right and wrapped both Fleamont and Harry in his arms before giving Harry a soft kiss on his forehead. “My great-grandson.” He said in a choked voice. “We can never be enough for the living, but take comfort in the fact that you were loved deeply, that you are loved deeply.”

“How would you even know that?” Harry cried out, holding onto Fleamont as if he would disappear.

“Because I am a parent who still loves his child. Even death hasn't changed that.”

“I don't even know what he sounds like!” Harry sobbed, feeling like his heart had broken into a thousand pieces that could never be fixed. Not really, not all the way. The missing pieces would always stay missing, would continue to bleed for the rest of his life.

“He sounds like you. He sounds like Fleamont. He sounds like me, he sounds like all of us here now, Harry. We will never be him, but maybe we can help you feel closer to him nonetheless.” Charlus stated softly, looking Harry over carefully.

Harry sniffed loudly, tried to compose himself and failed miserably. “So how does a wizarding space work then?” He asked, changing the subject and hoping that they would let him have a moment to gather himself.

“We are essentially in a place that retains an echo of our living, at the time, counterparts. This place exists only to the Potter's and only to those taking up the mantle of our House.”

“That...explains nothing.” Harry said, confusion evident on his face even as he tried to wipe away a few stray tears. Fleamont hadn't yet released him and Harry made no move to leave the embrace.

Henry Potter snorted loudly and then introduced himself. “Of course it doesn't, my son is terrible at explanations. Using small words, magic transported your mind somewhere else, outside of space and time, so that you could learn all you needed to know about keeping up the traditions of our House.”

“Outside of space and time?” Harry asked faintly, wondering just how much he was going to learn here.

“When you come back to yourself, it'll be a blink of the eye later. Don't ask me how it works because none of us have any idea and the ones that do refuse to say.” He stated, glaring at a few men who were smirking back at him.

“Not for you to know.” One of them replied loftily.

“You might undo all our hard work.” Another added. To Harry it sounded like an argument they'd had several times.

“And the space part?” He asked instead.

“Well, you're still technically at the bank, magic just pulled your consciousness to a different plane.”

Harry sighed deeply. “That's not at all complicated.”

“We're just glad we have someone to carry on the Potter line.” He said wryly, a note of worry still evident. “We had thought the line would die soon enough. We could feel you, but we could also feel that James was no longer amongst the living.”

“And without him teaching you...” Another man said before letting the sentence drift off.

“I would have never known what to do.” Harry finished softly. They nodded. “So.” Harry stated as he squared his shoulders. “What do I need to know?” He asked looking from one face to another.

They all smiled back at him in pride, something that made his heart fill and tears prick at his eyes again. He blinked them away because this really wasn't the time to become emotional. He was ready to learn anything and everything he needed to.

Turned out, he needed to know a lot. As in, centuries of information about the history of the Potters, the history of the Potter's magic, the rules he was bound by as Lord Potter, his duties, his estates, his finances, all of it. Not to mention how the government worked and the history of how the Potter's had voted, and what he needed to know in order to prepare him for taking up his political seat.

It wasn't just magic lessons, it was personal history he had never had, it was a connection to his ancestors, it was a link to the family he had always wanted. It was a link to his father that he desperately wanted. It would never be enough, this half-knowing, but for right now it was good enough. It was enough for him to feel one step closer to the man he had always dreamed of. He just wished it didn't hurt as much as it helped.

By the time he left, he felt closer to his family than he ever had and understood more about the world he was living in than he had ever hoped to know. He finally had a firm foundation of knowledge that would not only help him in this new world, but also help him thrive. It gave him hope that even if his dreams didn't turn out the way he was hoping that he still had something to fall back on. It was a comforting thought.

~~~~~~

It would have all been just fine if after he blinked himself awake in Blackrack's office he just got up, thanked him, and left, but that just wasn't his life because Harry clearly forgot that he had also jammed the Black ring on his finger, and boy, were the Black's a disagreeable lot.

To say it had been an unpleasant experience was an understatement. Sirius aside, his whole family was completely barmy. His father was strict and unpleasant. His grandfather was mildly alright, but his great-grandfather was just insane.

“So if I'm not as directly related to you lot as Draco Malfoy is, why are you accepting me as the next Lord?” Harry asked tiredly, looking around at the faces glaring at him.

This day was not going how he had planned and he was getting exhausted at the emotional bombs that kept being thrown his way. He was thankful that he had put on the Potter ring first and had learned enough from his family to not expect Sirius here, but it still had been a blow to realize that the man who had been a father figure to him wasn’t here. Having been hit with that for the second time had simply maxed out his emotions to the point of fatigue.

“My son, despite his many flaws, was a sly individual. He was not only your godfather, but he also legally adopted you.” Sirius’s father stated with a sneer. Harry wasn’t even going to bother trying to figure out his name, the man was an _ass_.

“So? I'm still not directly blood related.” Harry pointed out. “I'm two generations where Draco is one.”

“You're not listening!” Sirius's grandfather screeched, and there went the thought that he was mildly alright. Harry should have just accepted that the whole lot of them were a lost cause. “He adopted you! That makes you a son of The Ancient and most Noble House of Black and thus one step higher than this Draco. My idiot of a grandson thought he was sticking it to us by naming you his Heir. I'm sickened to know it worked.”

“Of course he did.” Harry sighed in despair.

It was exactly something Sirius would do too, just another way of messing with his long dead family. As much as Harry missed the only father figure he had ever had, the man was also a giant git. First class. For someone who had tried to literally piss on his families traditions, he sure didn't mind letting Harry deal with all of it.

It also explained why he suddenly also had the Black Lordship. Something that hadn’t even occurred to him while he was putting the rings on. Something he was less than pleased to learn about in the moment. He hadn’t even bloody questioned it when Blackrack had given him the ring! Being that lax was dangerous, especially with the power he now held.

By the time he left, he understood why the House motto had been 'Toujour Pur' and wished he didn't know half the things he did. What he did get out of that experience was a lot more Pureblood etiquette and protocols. Where the Potter's had been more lax about their interactions with other Houses, the Black's were fiercely prideful of their standing and liked nothing better than to use every tool they had to snub someone of lower, or equal, standing. He didn't really like to think about the amount of obscure curses, hexes, and general almost illegal magic he had learned during his 'education' of the duties for the new Lord Black.

Despite his desire not to know any of their names, he was now the unhappy owner of all the Black family names and histories. It really didn’t get better as the generations went on and his only hope for that family line would be the fact that he was a Potter in blood and not a Black. He anticipated that that would cure the insanity that seemed to strengthen each generation.

Which, of course, made him wonder how much of Sirius’ condition was because of Azkaban and how much of it was because of generations of inbreeding. He wasn’t sure he wanted to know.

In the end, he was just incredibly glad the whole ordeal was over.

~~~~~~

“Well.” Harry stated finally as he stared at the goblin in front of him when he had ‘come back to earth’. “That was an experience.” Understatement of the century.

“You are not dead.” Was the only reply he got and Harry mentally shrugged. He didn’t really know what he expected, but sympathy probably wasn’t it.

“I will need all the files for both the Potter and Black estates, all the files on the finances, and any and all investments on behalf of both Houses.” Harry stated instead, already knowing that goblins didn’t care for anything else he would have said. They were a business and Harry was a client.

“Of course, Lord Potter-Black.” Blackrack replied gruffly, already sending out notes and getting up to gather some papers that had come flying in.

And boy, would that take some getting used to, being a Lord. He finally understood the amount of power he now held, why Draco had always cried out about his father. He could, if he wanted to (and he did), change the way the whole government worked! He could implement new laws, he could change laws, he could set up foundations or scholarships, he could fund businesses, shit, he probably already _was_ funding businesses!

It suddenly dawned on Harry why Snape, why anyone, would want to keep him away from his heritage. Why Snape had gone out of his way to make sure that Harry hadn’t even had a clue about any of this. Power was the easiest answer but that simply wouldn’t cut it. Aurora Blakely was from a minor House (the Black’s were quite adamant about him knowing _all_ of the Houses in the Wizarding world) and Snape had still gone after her.

It was because of his connections. Minor Houses made alliances with larger Houses and formed coalitions during voting. These Minor Houses were oftentimes pulled into bigger Houses and became a part of their ‘umbrella’. Harry, when only being The-Boy-Who-Lived, was oftentimes in the public eye but had no real connections outside of that. He had no standing, no allies, no hand of strength to back him. Harry as Lord Potter was connected to the Longbottom’s, the Abbott’s, the Fawley’s, the Macmillan’s, and (surprisingly) the Rosier’s. Those were the big names, not even going into the Minor Houses he was responsible for as the new Lord Potter and thus the connections and power he had.

Knowing all of this, Harry instinctively knew that if he had ever found out what Snape had been doing after he had already received his Lordships he would have crushed Snape. Not that he wasn’t doing the exact same thing now, but it would have been different. Their relationship was over and nothing would be held against him now. Had he continued as he had or had he known nothing and let Snape out him the way the man intended _and then_ gained his Lordships? It was social suicide despite the fact that every single person knew that Harry bloody Potter had no knowledge of his history or responsibilities. He would have been seen as weak and malleable, something no one wanted in their government.

Which made what Snape was doing even more sinister. He was essentially cutting Harry out of the Wizarding world altogether. He would have been embarrassed to show his face once the hurt had passed, not even mentioning how the press would have exploded once they caught wind of what Snape had done.

It was devious, it was despicable, and if it wasn’t aimed at Harry, it would have been a brilliant way of making sure an opponent was permanently taken care of without resorting to murder.

He would make sure to pay Snape back in kind.

~~~~~~

By the time he was finished going over everything with his new goblin accountants, it was most certainly early morning. Pulling out his wand, he quickly cast a tempus and snorted at the six twenty-five that blinked back at him before fading away. Rolling his eyes at the sheer amount of time he had spent in the bank, he missed the figure walking towards him and bumped into him, causing them both to lose their balance and almost fall.

Quickly expressing his regrets as they both righted themselves, he almost swallowed his tongue when he saw that the figure he had bumped in to was in fact Lord Malfoy.

“Lord Malfoy.” Harry stated while giving the man an incline of his head. His ancestral magic quickly kicking in and making sure he knew the correct protocol. Since they were technically equals, he was allowed to make the gesture he just had but on the other hand he was also underage so he should have bowed to a man his senior and boy did Harry hate the overload of information, even if it was useful.

Lord Malfoy did that fantastic one eyebrow raising thing before inclining his head to return the gesture.

“Lord Potter. Business?” He inquired, his eyes flickering to the bank and back.

“Indeed.” Harry stated. He was fully set to quickly excuse himself (he was on a tight schedule after all) when a thought popped into his head, one he was actually inclined to agree with. “It's Lord Potter-Black, however.”

If Harry hadn't been watching the other man so intently, he would have missed the slight widening of the man's eyes as the only sign on surprise.

“Is that so? I shall have my wife introduce herself to you, as a member of your House.”

“I'm aware of those in my care, Lord Malfoy.” Harry stated coldly. Whether or not he meant to, Malfoy had just slighted him. By indicating his wife and her connection to the Blacks, he had subtly told Harry he was failing as the new Lord and was unfit for the position. Harry’s less than subtle reply was aimed to forcibly put him back in his place. Outside of his House politics, where the man belonged. He was part of the Malfoy’s, not the Black’s and any interference would not be met with kindness.

Malfoy clearly hear the implications as he inclined his head again. “Of course. My apologies. If that was all?”

Harry watched the man carefully. “Actually, Lord Malfoy, I do have some business with you.”

“Do you?” He asked, a note of derision in his voice that made Harry acutely aware of the fact that he was still a minor, Lord or not.

Moreover, if Harry hadn't been there for the conversation where he learned the truth, he would have been convinced that the older Malfoy hated his guts. Maybe it was a family trait?

“I wish to ask permission to start Courting your son.” Harry stated.

While it seemed to come out of nowhere, Harry had actually been thinking of this as soon as the Potter's had explained all about the Courting rituals. What it meant, how the Wizarding world viewed it. He wanted that formality with Draco, wanted to show Draco that he was serious about him by following an important Wizarding custom that was falling (relatively) out of style. Draco's father still held on to the old beliefs and would have raised Draco in them. Harry needed them both to understand how serious he was about Draco and this was his one sure fire way of doing that. His head spun a little at the idea that he was actually making a formal claim to be able to marry Draco.

The thing was, all of those little issues he had been uncertain about with Draco, the things he wasn't sure how to reconcile, they all fell away in the fundamental understanding of the society he was born into. He understood Draco in a way he hadn't before and it was frankly a relief. It was one of the biggest things that stood in their way (in Harry's opinion) but now that he had that same understanding he could see why Draco said the things he did and acted the way he did in certain situations. When Draco spoke of Purebloods, he meant their traditions and way of life that had slowly been changing with every muggleborn that came into their world. When he acted pompously and acted like a git, it was his pureblood breeding coming into play because the person he was talking to was part of that world and the rules were different. There were protocols and mannerisms and subtleties that Harry had simply not understood before now.

Frankly, it pissed him off even more now that nobody had thought to even mention this to him. It was stated nowhere, absolutely _nowhere_, that Harry should be kept in the dark until his family explained things to him. It was understood that it was a family matter but once they recognized that he had no knowledge of _anything_, well, someone should have helped him. That they hadn't just made him all the more irate. What if he had never been there that night and overheard Snape and Lord Malfoy? What if they had never mentioned his Lordship? How would he have ever found out?

The only thing that could console him, or temper his rage, was the fact that he now had everything he needed. He was a Lord (twice over) and he had the knowledge he needed to truly become a part of his world, he even had a name behind him that would allow him to change some of the more ridiculous rules. Not to mention the fact that if they brought muggleborn children in a year early and gave them a thorough explanation of their world they would be able to adapt far more smoothly than they were now. It would ease some of the dissonance caused by the unknowing actions of ignorance.

To be fair though, prejudice was prejudice and there was always someone willing to hate someone or something simply for its existence.

“Do you?” Lord Malfoy repeated, bringing Harry out of his musings. There was a subtle amount of surprise in his tone that surprised Harry but enough malice that made him hide that surprise in case he got cursed. Also the fact that he was still a little flabbergasted that he was actually doing this made him appear just as surprised as he knew Malfoy wanted to sound.

“I do.” He said with a firm nod, throwing off the surprise and standing tall in his decision.

“This is highly unusual.” Lord Malfoy stated and Harry knew it too. These requests had protocols and Harry had bypassed a whole lot of very important steps by simply walking up to Lord Malfoy and stating his intentions. It wasn't bad form, per se, but it wasn't exactly looked upon in a kindly manner.

“It is, but I had the...suspicion that if I sent you a request through the ways set by protocol, it would be tragically misplaced.” Harry said cautiously.

Lord Malfoy narrowed his eyes in contemplation. “If I do recall, you seem to be in a relationship.”

“Do I?” Harry asked with a little more astonishment than necessary. “I don't recall sending out any other Courting requests. Have you heard otherwise?” Harry questioned him, hoping to keep the man from thinking that he had found out about Snape’s scheme.

“So the only request you have currently is the one you have with my son?” Lord Malfoy asked, completely ignoring Harry’s question.

“Current I have none.” Harry pointed out with a narrow eyed look. “I wish to have a Courting contract with your son, but I do believe that is generally up to the Lord of the House.”

It was only for the barest of moments, but Harry was sure he caught a flash of a smirk, as if the man had somehow been pleased by Harry's answer. He hadn't seemed pleased with what Snape wanted to do to him, but why would that mean he would be pleased with Harry denying their almost-relationship? Not to mention the fact that Harry was placing a lot of trust in the man to keep his mouth shut. The only indication he had that Lord Malfoy wouldn't go to Snape was the fact that he knew the Lord Malfoy disliked Snape. He didn't know that Harry knew that, however, which meant that Harry was playing a very dangerous game in Malfoy’s eyes.

“Indeed it is.” Lord Malfoy agreed after a short pause.

“Which is why I would like to express my interest in Courting Draco with you now, to clear up and misunderstandings before I approach your son after the Yule festivities have come to a close.”

“To reiterate: you are single and wish to make serious advances towards my son?”

“As you say.”

“I will have to discuss this with my wife.” Lord Malfoy finally answered after staring at Harry for long enough to make him want to run away.

“Of course.” Harry said with a nod, knowing that he wasn’t going to get much more than that. He was happy knowing that Lady Malfoy had been more than fine with listening to Draco talk endlessly about Harry, so he figured that he had at least one of the Malfoy’s on his side. Hopefully Lord Malfoy wouldn’t take too long in his decision.

They stared at each other for a few more heartbeats than Harry was comfortable with but with a nod of his head Lord Malfoy excused himself and all was right with the world.

Now all he had to do was wait for a reply.

And get back to Hogwarts.

It was going to be a long day.

~~~***~~~

“I don't understand.” Aurora Blakely stated, looking at Harry in confusion. “You're here to talk to me about Severus Snape, the Hogwarts potion master?”

Aurora Blakely was a nineteen-year-old woman who came from a minor House that really had no power in any of the important circles. She was, however, a lovely petite woman with long black hair and startling amber eyes. Her voice was soft and her mannerisms were of those born with money. She seemed like a lovely woman and Harry was really starting to hate himself for having to possibly shatter an illusion she still held of a man she had loved. Or still loved.

“No.” Harry said slowly, wondering how he could soften what he was about to tell her. “I'm here to speak to you about Severus Snape, the man you had a relationship with in your last year.”

“What?” Aurora laughed uncomfortably, looking around her. “That's preposterous. Not to mention against school rules. I would never.”

“I did.” Harry stated calmly.

“It's simply not don-_youwhatnow_?” Aurora asked quickly, her full focus suddenly shifting onto Harry.

“I mean, well, I did.” Have a relationship with him.

She frowned at him. “But aren't you a sixth year?”

“I am.” Harry confirmed with a nod.

“But he would never do that.” She stated, firm in her belief.

“Wouldn't he?” Harry asked gently. “Wouldn't he start to spend less time with you at the end of the year? Wouldn't he start to distance himself, maybe tell him it was your fault?”

“What do you want from me?” Aurora asked, her voice suddenly hard and her face closed off.

Harry winced, not knowing how to bring up the fact that he knew everything while still being somewhat compassionate. He needed her on his side, but he also needed her to understand what Snape had been doing, was still doing.

“I want to know everything that happened between you two, I want to make sure he never does this to another student again, I want him to pay for what he's done.” Harry stated fiercely, finally opting for just blurting it out.

“So that's why you're here? For revenge?” Aurora asked, both confusion and apprehension clear on her face.

“Not quite.” Harry frowned, trying to organize his thoughts in a way that would come across as clearly as possible. “The thing is, you're not the first.”

“W-what?” Aurora asked, clearly stunned. “He's, what, done this before?”

“Yes. I don't know exactly how far or anything close to any details other than your name and that you were the person before me, but yes. We were children, I am a child, and he took advantage of every single one of us.”

Aurora was already shaking her head. “I gave him my permission and I was of age.” She pointed out and it wasn't like he hadn't said the same thing to Hermione all those weeks ago.

Harry tried not to sigh, knowing full well that this was one of the sticking points he would have to work around because this world just didn't work the same way as the muggle world. “Maybe you did, but it seems to me like he decided to lead you there first.”

“What?”

“He started small, by giving you little compliments like a nod or a grunt of approval, then worked up to helping you with potions where he would give you some positive feedback so you felt like you were doing well. Then before you know it, he's touching you, first small grazes, then a hand on your shoulder, your back, holding your hand a little too long-”

“Stop! Stop! Just stop!” Aurora screamed. Harry's head snapped up, not even realizing that he had started to look away. Her devastation was clear to read and more than a little heartbreaking.

Would he have been like this when Snape would have turned on him? Devastated? Torn to shreds? Broken into pieces?

“I-I always th-thought it w-w-was me!” She sobbed, looked around wildly, looking like her world had just been shattered. “He told m-me I was-wasn't interesting enough, to-told me I was too clingy.”

Harry winced, another piece of the puzzle falling into place. Snape seemed to use the same script with all of them, he just wanted to make it public for Harry. A thought niggled the back of his brain. If Snape had gone through it publicly, wouldn't the other people he had done this to figure something out? Wouldn't the wording tip them off? Had Snape even thought his plan all the way through?

“What do I do?” Aurora asked softly as Harry looked at her again. She had her head in her hands and her shoulders were silently shaking. He hesitated before moving to the chair next to her and awkwardly putting his hand on her shoulder.

“I don't think I can help you with that. I'm in it for revenge mostly.” He said as he patted her shoulder in what he hoped was a comforting gesture.

She lifted her head slightly from her eyes so she could look at him. “You're terrible at this.” She stated bluntly.

Harry winced. “Yeah, it's been mentioned before.” He left his hand where it was and gave her shoulder a small squeeze. “What do you feel like doing?”

“Crying.” She said with a sigh, sitting up again and tilting her head back as she waved her wand and her face smoothed back to perfection.

“Handy trick.” Harry commented as he took his hand back.

She gave him a small smile. “Glamour.” She stated. “So what are you going to do?”

“Find the others?” He asked with a shrug. “I want as much evidence as possible to get him kicked out of the school. I don't want another student to go through this.”

She gave him a pained smile. “Mr. Potter-”

“Harry. Actually it's Lord Potter now, but Harry between us.”

“Harry then. We have no idea how long this has been going on, no idea how many people are involved. Does he only go after women? You're a man, has he gone after men? Where do we start looking, how do we go about contacting these people without...without breaking their worlds apart?” She asked softly, a little brokenly. “I never even knew there was someone before me, that he had done this to someone else. If I didn't know, how would the others know?”

Harry shrugged helplessly. “I found you because, don't judge me now, I happened to be in Snape's quarters and overheard him speaking to a friend. He mentioned your last name and, well, I found you.”

Aurora snorted. “No judgment here, we've both been there. Though I have to assume you haven't been intimate with him.”

Harry felt his face flame at the question and choked on his own spit as he quickly shook his head. “We weren't there yet. Though it wouldn't have been much longer.” He admitted with more than a touch of bitterness.

Aurora smiled softly. “That's apparently what he does. So.”

“So?” Harry asked when she just looked at him.

She rolled her eyes. “Where do we start? We have to find more of us. Maybe then we can take him down!”

Harry laughed. “Muggleborn friend?”

Aurora blushed and shrugged. “Never mind that, what of the plan?”

Harry took a deep breath. “No plan. Well.” He amended. “A stupid plan that can only end badly.”

Aurora nodded encouragingly. “I like those.”

“Snape has a trophy box. A case really.”

“Oh. Oh! Oh no, that's a terrible plan.” Aurora said, looking aghast.

“I know. Harry agreed, nodding solemnly.

“So you're going to do it anyway?”

Harry squinted his eyes at her. “I thought you said you didn't know me?”

Aurora laughed in delight. “Harry, darling, the whole school knows. You have reckless practically written on your forehead! Though, if you are a Lord now, the family magic should be helping with that.”

Harry chuckled quietly. “That they are.”

“So you get his box and then we go hunting?”

“Well, I open the box, duplicate everything in it without touching it in any way and not using any magic in case he traces it and then hopefully he's the type of man to put his conquests name's on the back of the pictures.”

“How on earth are you supposed to find a box, without magic, open it, without magic, and then duplicate the contents without magic?!” Aurora asked, appalled.

Harry's grin was a little on the devious side. “The muggle way.”

~~~***~~~

It was a month after the holidays and Harry was still trying to figure out the best time to sneak back into Snape's private quarters when he bumped into Draco. He looked into those blue-grey eyes with little flecks of green and smiled so big he was sure he was breaking his face in some manner. Draco, however, seemed more agitated than happy to see him.

“Look, Potter, if you're doing this as some sort of huge cosmic joke to get back at me, fuck you, ok? That's despicable and cruel and I honestly thought you were a better person that that.” Draco stated, his hand clenching and unclenching as a sign of his unease.

“Draco what the hell are you on about?” Harry asked in confusion, wondering where the hell this had come from.

Had he landed in some sort of alternate universe? Did he have a fight with Draco that he had forgotten? Oh Merlin, had he forgotten they were going to meet up?!

“US!” Draco screamed, seemingly very aggravated and shocking Harry out of his worry.

“Ok, what about us?” Harry asked slowly, wanting to make sure he knew what was going on.

“Are you serious about me? About wanting to try this?” He asked, gesturing between them.

“Wouldn't have asked your father for Courting rights if I wasn't.” Harry said, still very much confused but a lot more confident that he hadn't forgotten anything that could potentially mean trouble.

“You-he-asked-what?” Draco stuttered out.

Theo walked up to them to catch the end of Draco's sentence and glared at Harry. “You broke him again! Honestly, Potter!”

“What?” Harry asked, hands in front of him as he shrugged helplessly. “He does this to himself, I swear!”

“Sure he does. What did you say this time, hm? That it was all a joke? That you were just wanting a casual fling?”

“Why do people keep asking me that?” Harry muttered, a little outraged. “No, I told him I asked his father for Courting rights.”

Theo gaped at him. “You-what?”

“Oh for Merlin's sake, I broke another one!” Harry groaned in annoyance.

“Do you mean it?” Draco asked softly, hope filling his voice as he searched Harry's face intently for deception.

Harry smiled softly at him. “I wouldn't lie to you about this. You can even ask your father.”

“So it's real? Official I mean?”

“Once your father gives me his blessing.” Harry nodded.

Draco's eyes turned to steel. “He will. I'll make sure of it.” He focused back on Harry. “And then you'll be mine.” He said in a tone that gave Harry some very pleasant shivers that made him smile happily at Draco.

“If you'll have me.” He said, still a little uncertain of what was happening but happy enough to go along with it all because he wanted Draco any which way he could get him.

“Potter, I'm a possessive person. If you're mine, I'll never let you go.” Draco warned him.

Harry wanted to laugh. As if that was a threat. “Promise?” Harry asked hopefully instead. And shit, when had he turned into such a sap?

Looking at Draco though, at everything that he would get because of Draco, well, he'd murder anyone just to keep it. After Sirius and before Snape, Harry had felt lost and adrift, part of the reason why he had latched on to Snape so quickly.

Looking back at it now, it had been far too easy to get Harry exactly where Snape had wanted him. With Draco though, with Draco Harry knew exactly what he was getting himself into. There were no lies, no hidden agenda's, just openness and a fragile trust between them. A hope for a real future with someone by his side that understood and supported him. A friend. A family.

“Promise.” Draco echoed firmly, his eyes shining in happiness.

“Oh Merlin.” Theo breathed, startling both Harry and Draco who had forgotten he was even there. “You two are the worst. Please get married soon so I don't have to witness that ever again. Or the pining. Or the late nights wondering if what you said was really what you meant or there was some hidden meaning in your words. Not to mention the-”

“Alright! Thank you Theo! Very helpful! We're going to be late for class, must get going!” Draco interrupted loudly, quickly steering a very confused Theo down the hallway as fast as he could.

“But it's lunch now!” Theo protested loudly before Draco smacked him loudly on the back of his head to shut him up.

Harry chuckled quietly as he watched them go. It was nice knowing that someone he was falling for was as awkward and as far gone on him as he was on them.

~

The next day Harry got an official acceptance letter from Lord Malfoy and Draco wore a smug smile all week long.

~~~***~~~

“Severus? You wanted to speak with me?” Harry asked, knocking on the door to Snape’s office before opening it and peaking inside.

Snape looked up and Harry almost blanched at the look he was receiving. Suddenly all his senses were on alert and his body froze in shock and fear.

Suspicion. Snape was suspicious.

“Yes. I had an enlightening conversation with Professor McGonagall this afternoon.” Snape stated, slowly putting down his quill before looking back up at Harry.

ABORT!ABORT!ABORT!

“It wasn’t about my grades was it?” Harry asked, trying very _very_ hard to keep calm while his brain screamed at him in panic.

“She informed me that you had asked her permission for something…unusual.” Snape stated, his cold eyes focused intently on Harry.

Harry forced his body to relax and tilted his head to the side like a confused puppy. If Snape had been any kind of creature he would have heard how quickly Harry’s heart rate had increased and how truly frightened he was right now. This wasn’t good. In fact, this was his worst nightmare! If Snape somehow found out about their plans, Harry was doomed.

“Unusual?” He almost choked out.

“A certain list of names?” Snape prodded with narrowed eyes.

“Oh!” Harry said, as if finally understanding what was going on. “That! Well, remember when I asked you about my father?” He asked Snape who gave him a sharp nod in return. “It didn’t really look like you wanted to talk about all the people that were dead and all and I didn’t really want to bother you with it again, so I decided that maybe the best way to learn more about my parents was from the people who knew them. So I asked Professor McGonagall if there was a way to do that and there was! So I got all their names and wrote them asking for stories. I’ve only gotten a few responses back so far, but they’ve all been really nice!” Harry enthused.

Harry was thankful that he didn’t even have to lie about that. Since he had written the letters and sent them off with the school owls (grumpy lot, the whole bunch of them) he had only received about fifteen replies in total. All of them, so far, were from people who had known them only by sight and observation. Acquaintances more than friends really, but all of them were happy enough to help him. They gave him little stories of things they could remember and quite a few included pranks that his father used to pull with his friends. Most of them he had already heard about from Sirius, but there were one or two that made Harry roll his eyes at the stupidity of his father and his godfather.

So far, none of them had mentioned his mother and he really hoped he would hear from a few people soon that could change that.

“I know we’ve talked about my father.” Harry started, an idea popping into his head. “But we never did get a chance to talk about my mother.”

Snape’s demeanor changed in an instant. “What of your mother?” He asked, almost angry and definitely defensive.

“Well, I know you knew my father and that you were in the same year. So that means you were also in the same year as my mother. Did you know her? I haven’t gotten very many stories about her yet, you see, so if you remember anything about her, well, that would be…” Harry trailed off with a hopeful look.

Instead of answering, Snape stood up and walked towards Harry, grabbing his shoulders and forcibly turning him around before unceremoniously shoving him out the door.

“Severus?” Harry asked in a bewildered tone as he tried not to fall flat on his face. “Did I say something wrong?”

Snape seemed to stop himself from sneering at Harry. “Not at all, it’s just busy. New term, holiday homework that needs grading. I don’t have time to listen to your stories today, come by next week.”

“Next week?!” Harry asked, this time a little perplexed. What was it about his mother that elicited this reaction from Snape every time Harry brought her up? _Did_ they actually know each other? And if Snape kept doing this to Harry, wouldn’t he start to question Snape’s behavior more?

“If you want to know more about your mother, I’m afraid I can’t be of any assistance. We were not acquainted.” Snape informed him before very firmly closing the door in Harry’s face.

Harry had no idea what had just happened, but he was thankful that he had managed to keep Snape wrong-footed once more. That was too much of a close call and Harry had no idea if he could do that again. Staying under Snape’s radar was getting more difficult with each passing day. He was glad that he had been quick on his feet, linking his conversation with Snape to his desire to know more about his parents and thus asking help from Professor McGonagall. He didn’t really know what he had expected, but teachers sharing things about their students wasn’t it and this kind of unforeseen slip really couldn’t happen again. It seemed only natural then that Snape became suspicious of his behavior. Linking it to their conversation, however, meant that he could hopefully misdirect any distrust Snape had of him and with a bit of luck keep his secret just a little longer.

~~~***~~~

“So.” Hermione started the minute Harry walked into his room. “I did it.”

“Hermione! What the bloody hell are you doing in here?” Ron asked aghast, his eyes darting around his bed and clearly seeing the mess of clothing and junk strewn about.

“Planning an invasion, what else?” Hermione stated as if it should have been obvious. “I finished compiling all the information on Snape's habits.”

“You finished? That's terrific!” Harry cheered. Ron seemed very happy to not be involved at all, judging by the fact that he had moved over to his side of the room and was trying to clean up without Hermione noticing.

“You have three options to choose from, depending on whether or not he changes routines. The first one is this Wednesday morning, the second Friday afternoon in two weeks, and the last one is Monday during lunch in three weeks.”

“Well, obviously we start with Wednesday morning.” Ron piped up from under his bed.

“What are you doing under the bed?” Harry asked in confusion. And more importantly, how had he gotten there without them knowing?

“Dropped something.” Ron said evasively. “Not the point.” He went on quickly once he noticed Harry opening his mouth again. “If we have three options we need to take them all.”

“What? Why? We should just pick one and be done with it.” Harry pointed out with a frown.

“You could.” Ron nodded. “But what happens if the option you choose is the last one and somehow we stuff it up? We need to be prepared for all outcomes. He could come back mid-heist forcing you to drop everything and go. What then?”

“Mid-heist.” Hermione snorted with laughter under her breath.

“Please stop being logical.” Harry whined in despair.

“Can't mate, this is what I'm here for.” Ron said as he climbed out from under the bed and dusted himself off.

Harry sighed deeply. “Alright. I know we all agree that I'm shite with plans, but how about contingencies? Does that count as a plan?”

Ron and Hermione shared a look. “Probably, but let's pretend it doesn't so it will actually work.” Hermione said with a shrug.

“Brilliant. Let's not plan the Merlin out of this then.”

“Mate.” Ron said with a bemused look and a shake of his head. “That's not how that works.”

“Eh.” Harry said with a careless shrug. “Close enough.”

“So do you know where the box is?” Hermione asked.

“Erm, no.” Harry said in a hesitant sort of tone.

“Well that’s not helpful.” Ron stated, looking like his job had just gotten a million times more complicated.

“It’s not like you have to find it!” Harry said defensively.

“Maybe not.” Hermione butted in. “But we’re in this together. So how do we find a hidden box with no magic and no clues?”

“Tracking charm?” Ron offered.

Harry shook his head. “Too dangerous. But maybe we can send him something, something that he would put in the box as ‘evidence’. I could hide out in his rooms while under the cloak and just wait until he leaves?”

“A picture then?” Ron asked with a smirk.

Harry grimaced. “Merlin I hope not.”

Hermione frowned. “What if it wasn’t a tracking charm though?”

“What do you mean? Is there another way of tracking things?” Harry asked, looking at Ron who only shrugged in return.

“What if it didn’t track, exactly.” She hedged.

“Hermione…” Harry started in an aggravated tone.

“Hear me out! What if it was more like a beacon?”

Harry and Ron blinked at her. “That. That…how would that work?” Harry asked, not wanting to get his hopes up. “We can’t use any kind of magic that Snape would detect. If he realizes that I’ve done anything to the thing we send him, he’ll probably up his time table and everything we’ve done will be for nothing.” He warned her.

“Ok, but what if it’s not activated magic?” She asked, clearly thinking of something specific.

“I don’t think that’s a thing, love.” Ron said slowly, not wanting to hurt his girlfriend’s feelings.

Harry’s eyes grew larger. “You mean like the beacons they drop into the ocean!” He said, suddenly excited.

“Yes! What if we could remotely switch it on or off? Or set it to a specific time that it would go off?” Hermione fired off, truly excited now.

“Like a delayed spell?” Harry asked thoughtfully.

“I dunno, this is starting to sound very complicated. I don’t even know if magic works like that.” Ron stated with a worried look at both of them.

“Harry could do it.” Hermione stated with a certainty that Harry envied her for.

“He can?” Ron asked doubtfully, eyeing Harry up and down. On the other hand, he’d rather like to keep Hermione’s certainty in the face of Ron’s skepticism. The git.

“He found a loophole in Snape’s warding.” She told Ron with a knowing smirk. Ron’s jaw dropped open as he turned to stare at Harry.

“I don’t know why it’s such a big deal.” Harry muttered embarrassed. “I’m sure loads of people know how to do it.”

“No, they really don’t.” Hermione said with a snort. “But nevermind that right now. Do you think you could do it?”

Harry thought about his theory of accidental-on-purpose magic and gave her a tentative nod. “I think I can. How about we do a test run and then see if it works? That way we can be sure.”

“Logical, I like it.” Ron stated, seeming to snap out of his shock. He turned to Hermione with a big smile. “I love how clever you are.”

Hermione blushed a bright pink and gave him look that Harry could only call love-sick before leaning in and kissing him.

He groaned loudly. “Please don’t make me watch this.”

Ron scoffed. “I had to watch Malfoy pull you into an alcove and attack your face yesterday, I’m sure you can suffer through this.”

Harry couldn’t stop his smile if he tried. “Oh yeah. Fair’s fair, I suppose. Carry on.”

He didn’t even mind being smacked by an irate Hermione and an exasperated Ron.

~~~~~~

The beacon worked. Harry had been as flabbergasted as Ron had been but Hermione had just looked a mixture of smug and proud. Having had the three dates, they had decided to try all three of them. The first time they had been interrupted by Snape coming back in a rage not even ten minutes after he had left. Luckily for them, Harry had had the foresight to bring his invisibility cloak with him and they remained blissfully undetected.

The second time proved to be successful. Harry had taken the box, slipped out of the wards and had Hermione duplicate everything, erasing her magical signature as best she could before handing the box back to Harry. Seeing as they had no other way of making duplications they had been forced to change their plans and hope Snape wouldn’t become aware that someone had tampered with his box. It wasn’t as if Hogwarts had a copy machine after all. He had taken the box and placed it where he had found it, making sure to be precise in its placement in case Snape thought the box had been tampered with.

Before he left Harry was struck by the thought that even though they now had evidence, so did Snape. As a matter of fact, no matter what they did, he could use it at will if he so desired. Walking back to the box, he opened the lid and pulled out the picture containing the beacon that Ron had made him send to Snape. If he had been able to make a beacon, why not make sure he could sabotage the box too? Thinking quickly, he hurriedly changed the beacon into a prompted mini fire. A mini bomb-in-a-box, Harry thought with a laugh.

If all of his plans backfired and he had nothing left, he could at least be sure that Snape didn’t have anything either.

~

“What’s in the box?” Ron questioned as soon as they were safely in the tower. They all sat on Harry’s bed and looked at the box in question.

“Who wants to do the honors?” Harry asked.

“Well, you’re the one this is all about.” Hermione pointed out.

“Doesn’t mean I want to open it.” Harry retorted but relented under her hard stare and diligently opened the box. They all leaned in closer as Harry pulled out letters and pictures of girl after girl after girl.

“Harry, these are a lot of names.” Hermione whispered, horrified and trying not to be.

“I've got one here that goes back fifteen years.” Ron informed them in a hushed tone. “How old was he then?”

“If that's about one a year, depending on when he started, Merlin, that's at least fifteen women. Fifteen children who didn't know any better. I think I'm going to be sick.” Hermione muttered as she ran to the bathroom.

“Fuck.” Harry mumbled as he cradled his head in his hands and tugged at his hair. “What do we do?” He asked Ron as he lifted his head.

“We have to tell them, right?” Ron asked, equally as unsure.

“For some of them it's been twenty years. Do we really want to bring this up to them? They could be married, have families, _children_.”

“I'd want to know.” Ron said after a beat of silence. “If it was me, no matter how long, I'd want to know that what he did to me wasn't my fault. Would you?”

Harry looked around the room desperately. “I don't know. Would I want to open all that up again after I picked myself up and moved on? After so many years? I don't know. I just don't know.”

“It's not our choice to know.” Hermione stated softly as she walked back into the room. “It's theirs. If they want to know they have to get that opportunity. We aren't allowed to make that decision for them.” She said slowly but firmly.

“So what do we do?” Ron asked, nodding in agreement.

Hermione sucked in a deep breath. “Bring them all together. Put them all in one room and tell them the truth. Give them the option of walking away first and then we tell them.”

“This can only end badly.” Harry warned them.

“Oh, it will. Hermione stated with a glint in her eyes. It just won't be us paying the price this time.”

“So how do we do this?” Ron asked, changing the subject.

“We send out owls. Tonight. The faster we contact them, the faster we can get them to meet us.” Hermione stated firmly.

“It would be far too difficult to meet them all separately to tell them and then get them all together. Not to mention more suspicious.” Harry pointed out. “I can't exactly leave the castle fifteen times without someone eventually noticing. Well, fourteen if we don’t count Blakely.”

“So what do you suggest?” Hermione asked.

“We send out a short explanation, get them interested in meeting us and set up a time and place to meet us. A week from now so they don't have to wait too long and it gives them time to reply if they want to.” Ron jumped in, having thought it over. “Go somewhere no one would think you'd go. How about that bar...you know, the odd one? Rent a room there and have them all meet us there.”

Harry nodded. “Alright then, let's start writing.”

“What’s that?” Hermione asked suddenly, reaching into the box and pulling out a bundle of dried plants.

“Dunno.” Ron shrugged as he and Harry peered at the plants, both knowing they were far too terrible in both herbology and potions to be able to correctly identify anything without a book and some significant amount of research.

“Why would he put this in here?” Harry asked, puzzled.

“It obviously means something to him or he wouldn’t have put it in here.” Hermione stated, gently prying the bundle apart to see the different kinds of plants.

“Sure, but does that mean it’s got something to do with one of the women, or is it something else entirely?” Ron asked.

“He hasn’t kept any kind of keepsakes for any of the women other than their letters and pictures.” Hermione pointed out.

“Do you think it has something to do with me?” Harry questioned. “I’m the only difference in the whole lot.”

“At this point?” Ron asked. “Who knows? It might be in there to keep everything preserved for all we know.”

“I’ll research the herbs, see what I can come up with.” Hermione stated firmly. “We can ask the women later if it has any kind of meaning for them, but for now, let’s stick with what we do know.”

“We have names and faces.” Harry confirmed with a nod. “We write the letters and set the meeting time and date.”

The sooner this was over, the sooner he could start his revenge. Snape's time was running out.

~~~***~~~

Harry was making his way through Hogsmeade when he accidentally bumped into Lord Malfoy. Again. He silently cursed his luck as he wondered if this was the beginning of a terrible pattern.

“Lord Malfoy, my apologies.” Harry started, hoping the man wouldn’t hold this against him.

“I confess it was my fault this time.” Lord Malfoy stated, watching Harry carefully.

Harry raised his eyebrows in surprise. “Did you need something?”

“Simply to give you this.” He stated, handing Harry an envelope.

“Is this a betrothal contract?” Harry asked, wondering why it was so light and instantly feeling on guard. If it was then it was the worst slight he could have been given but if it wasn’t then Harry didn’t have clue as to what was in it. It couldn’t have been anything good, knowing where it had come from.

“Not at all. I had heard you were looking for more stories and memorabilia concerning your parents. This is a picture that I had in my possession that I thought you might find interesting.” Lord Malfoy stated, still looking intently at Harry. Harry wasn’t ashamed to say it unnerved him.

“That is thoughtful. It is appreciated.” Harry stated instead, hoping to get out of this conversation quickly so he could analyze it later in peace.

“If you will excuse my, my son is waiting for me.” Lord Malfoy stated before inclining his head and walking away.

Harry watched in bemused apprehension as the man walked away, wondering what the ever loving fuck that was about. Shaking out of his thoughts, he turned and continued on to his destination. It was going to be a difficult day, even without any Malfoy mysteries.

~

It had been trying to get fifteen different women to agree to meet him without giving them any clear indication of why. They all had lives, jobs, families that they couldn’t just leave without notice, not to mention the cloak and dagger part of it all. Nevertheless, Harry had managed it and now he was in a private room in the Hogs Head facing those fifteen faces after he had explained everything to them. Thankfully Aurora had helped him a great deal and chimed in by telling her story. It had taken time and patience, on all of their parts, but their stories were finally out in the open and Harry could only hope that they even wanted to listen.

All fifteen women had seemingly nothing in common. When Harry, Ron, and Hermione had gone through the box, they couldn’t find anything to link the women together. They all came from different backgrounds, had different faiths, aspirations, body shapes, and temperaments. They couldn’t find anything that linked these women together other than the fact that they were in Snape’s trophy box.

And it was a trophy box. It was a list of people that Snape had systematically seduced and then kept mementoes of in the most clinical and disturbing way possible. Something to open and lord over whenever he felt like it. It had chilled Harry to the bone that he was a part of that box now, that he would have been another name on the list if he hadn’t overheard Snape all those months ago.

“So, what exactly do you want from us?” Beatrice asked, bringing Harry back to the conversation. Harry had been introduced to the women as they had walked in, but he was finding that he was already forgetting more than a few of them.

“Do you want the dirty details?” Vivianne sneered in disgust.

Harry shook his head. “No. I want to stop him from doing this to other women. I want to make sure he never does this again to another girl who doesn’t know any better.”

“Why do you even care?” One of the other women asked.

“I care because it should have never happened. I care because it happened to me. I care because he wants to destroy me because I look like my father. I care because it happened to you and nobody did anything to stop him. I want to stop him.”

“You don’t even know if he did the same things to us.” Delia pointed out.

“I have proof that he did.” Harry said, knowing the turmoil he had just unleashed.

Using the stunned silence he quickly explained about Snape’s box, his trophies, and how it had helped him track down each and every one of them. He had answered their questions, stood firm in the face of their rage, fear, sadness, and hurt. He let them get it all out, let them calm down and slowly tell their own stories, one by one.

Harry felt sickened by the time the fourth woman had started her story. How Snape had quickly developed a pattern and adjusted it to each individual woman’s needs. Paige needed more encouragement but Delia had needed someone to challenge her. He silently wondered what he had needed and then almost snorted when he figured it out. Wasn’t hard to do since he had already guessed it. Comfort. He had needed someone to be there for him, something Snape had taken full advantage of.

Harry sighed deeply as the women talked about their experiences and turned his head to look out the window. He watched idly as Lord Malfoy walked out of a shop with Draco, his posture stiff and formal as he lead Draco back to the school. Harry frowned in thought as he remembered the envelope the elder Malfoy had given him. He pulled out the envelope and opened it to reveal a Wizarding picture. One of his mother, younger than he was now, with an equally young Snape. There was honestly no getting away from that nose.

It was odd, he thought as he looked back out the window looking for Lord Malfoy even though he knew the man and his son were out of sight. Why would Lord Malfoy give him this? The letters he had sent to his parent’s old school friends (those who were still alive to tell him at least) had already come back weeks ago and he was sure Lord Malfoy had not been acquainted with any of them. Well, he amended, the man could have been but it seemed unlikely.

Harry still hadn't forgotten the smirk that Lord Malfoy had worn when Harry had stated he wasn't in a relationship with Snape. He frowned in thought, frowned thinking that somehow Lord Malfoy was setting him up for something but he just couldn't figure out what. He wouldn't have allowed Draco into a Courting contract if he intended to crush Harry because it would crush his son. If there was one thing he knew with certainty, it was that family always came first for the Malfoy's. So what was the man's angle? He hadn't just given this picture to Harry because it had been lying around; he had given it to him for a reason.

He looked back at the picture, taking in all the small details and smiled as he watched his mother smile and laugh, over and over again. A happy thought caught forever in a single picture.

“-always had a lily ready for me.”

Harry blinked to awareness as that one sentence filtered through his mind. “Say that again?” He asked, his voice a little rough and his nerves shaking as he stared at his smiling mother.

“What was that Harry?” Vivianne asked, the closest one to him and probably the only one to have heard him. The rest of the women present quieted down as they waited for him to repeat himself.

“That last thing someone said, about a lily, could you repeat that?” He asked after clearing his voice.

“Oh.” Harry raised his head to see Beatrice turning slightly pink under all the attention. “Well, it's just, after...after we were intimate, he used to give me a bouquet of lilies. Sometimes just one, sometimes more, but always lilies.”

“But only after intimacies, right? Because that's what he did with me too.” Raina piped up, looking a little green.

Several more voices spoke up voicing the same experiences and Harry felt _ill_.

He felt numb and heartbroken, all those missing pieces suddenly popping up and fitting perfectly. Snape had known his mother. Snape had been friends with his mother. Snape hated his father, hated him for looking like his father. _Snape had known his mother_. How he wished he never knew the truth, that he couldn't see it shining so clearly in his face.

“Harry?” Vivianne asked softly. He looked at her, not realizing the conversation had stopped and that they had been trying to get his attention.

He turned to the group at large and felt his heart lurch in realization. “Aurora.” He croaked, unable to keep the emotions he was feeling from bleeding into his voice. “Has your hair always been black?”

She looked confused at the change in topic but answered him anyway. “No, there was a spell accident in my department just this past year that turned my hair into a sickly green colour. I dyed it for obvious reasons.” She admitted with a shrug.

“What colour did it used to be?” Harry asked, already knowing the answer but dreading the confirmation of it.

“A strawberry blond? More on the blond side of that actually, but I was generally in that category.” She paused to see what he was getting at. “Does it matter?” She asked when the silence stretched too far for her liking.

Harry looked back at the picture in his hands and then at every woman in the room. He handed the picture to Beatrice who had the most women around her and also happened to be far enough away that he wouldn't get mobbed.

His hands were shaking.

“That is my mother.” He said as Beatrice and the women around her peered at the picture.

His voice was shaking.

“She's lovely Harry.” Delia stated, a soft smile on her face.

“Yes she is.” He paused because he really didn't know how to say this without breaking something important in all these women who had decided to help him. If admitting this would break something inside of him that he had thought was whole. Untouchable.

“Her hair is amazing!” Paige stated, leaning over Beatrice to get a look at the picture. “Hang on, is that Snape next to her?”

“Snape?” A voice asked.

“You're kidding!” Someone else said.

“They knew each other?” More voices clamored.

“That.” Harry stated loudly enough to get the attention of every person in the room back on him. “That is my mother. She had red hair and her name was Lily.” He watched as a dawning horror slowly etched its way across every face in the room. “And Snape is in love with her.” Watched as a devastating silence became so loud he couldn't hear a thing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oef, I totes went there...
> 
> I hope it all made sense so far, I'm in too deep at this point.
> 
> The next part might take more time because I have no idea where I'm taking this revenge yet.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ever read over something so many times that you have a major crisis about the placement of commas? 
> 
> It's a bit later than I had planned, but it just wouldn't work with me until it just poured out in the last two days. Go figure. 
> 
> The last chapter will be up in a couple of days and will only be a small epilogue!

Snape was in love with his mother. Snape was _still_ in love with his mother. He had no idea what he was supposed to do with that. He looked around the room at every shade of red that could have possibly belonged to ‘red-head’ and thought the most obvious thing to do was to throw up.

It wasn't like anyone hadn't known his mother's name either. She was famous for dying just as much as Harry was famous for surviving. They knew she had deep red hair and lovely green eyes. It was just one of those things everyone had always known: the sky is blue, the grass is green, Lily had red hair and green eyes. Maybe not always green eyes, but red hair was one of the most defining qualities that described his mother, that had made her stand out. What no one had known (possibly only those close to the two of them) was that Snape, at one point in their lives, had been her friend, a close friend and that somewhere along the way Snape had been in love with her but she had fallen for James Potter instead.

Oh hell, it all made so much sense. Why Snape always wanted to see his eyes, why he had always spat such hatred against his father, why he hated Harry so much more because of it. Lily. It had always been about Lily. He had known Snape was friends with his mother, he had listened to Lord Malfoy say exactly that, but in the face of his newly broken heart, it hadn't really been at the forefront of his thoughts. It wouldn't have even been a passing thought if this hadn't happened. Why would it have been important? He was sincerely regretting that oversight now.

And yes, while he did understand (in only the most twisted of ways) why Snape had chosen all these women in various images of his mother, he had a harder time accepting that Snape had chosen him because of his father. He had said that Harry's eyes were the only good thing about him, which pointed strongly to the fact that it was the only reason he could stomach being so close to Harry since Harry looked like a miniature copy of his father. So why, _why_, would he want to go after Harry if Harry looked like his father?

Revenge, that was obvious, but it still didn't answer all of his questions. Was he actually trying to get revenge on Harry's father because his mother hadn't loved Snape back? On one hand, he suddenly had more than enough information to understand how this could have all happened but on the other all this information just brought up more questions. He didn't even know if he would ever get all of the answers he was looking for.

Now, looking at all the women surrounding him, he finally found an answer he had been pondering for far too long. No, he didn't want to ruin Snape's life. For him it was enough that he would never be able to do this to another child, that he would be barred from teaching and have (hopefully) no way to do what he had done ever again. That he would never find another girl that looked just close enough like his mother that Snape would prey on her.

It seemed odd to him, even after having learned that Snape was essentially trying to re-create his history with his mother, that he wouldn't want to make Snape pay more than just losing his job but the sad truth was that it didn't really change anything.

It put everything he had learned into context but it didn't change the outcome. He still wanted Snape out of the school. He still wanted Snape to pay for what he had done. He still wanted to help the women who had been led on. What was he really supposed to do with the knowledge that Snape was a terrible person? Didn’t he already know that?

He knew that it was about his mother but he also knew that he wasn't a woman. Would it have had a bigger punch to the gut if he himself had been a woman? Probably, but Snape had never seen Harry's mother in Harry. He wasn't trying to destroy Harry based on Lily, he was doing it based on James. Yes, he may have manipulated Harry into believing that the man cared for Harry, loved Harry, but he had never had the chance to go through with it. Harry learned the truth early enough that it still hurt something fierce but not too late that it changed the course of his life.

It was different for the women. Snape had made them believe it was all real, made them believe that there was something more between them, never knowing just how far he'd gone in his obsession over a schoolboy crush. It wasn't just some hurt feelings and wanting a sense of justice, it was a knife in the heart that kept on twisting.

He didn't know how to put into words exactly what he was feeling. Disappointment, horror, anger, all them strong and swirling inside of him but the most prominent feeling was...sadness. Why had it gotten to this point? How had it gotten to this point? Why had Snape gone through all this trouble over two people who had been dead for over a decade? Why where they still so damned important to him and why couldn't he just let them go? It wasn't about him anymore. It wasn't about his feelings and his hurt. Harry would have his revenge and Snape would be kicked out of the school, but these women needed closure of their own. If they even wanted that. If they decided they needed that revenge, if they decided that Snape's deception wasn't something they could live with any longer, well then. Harry would help them in any way he could.

At the end of the day, regardless of his previous thoughts that it wasn't part of his revenge, it was still his mother Snape was trying to fuck and Harry was going to make sure Snape would pay for it.

“So we're agreed?” A voice asked, jolting Harry back to the present.

“Agreed to what?” Harry asked, turning to look at the determined faces of fifteen women.

“We'll help you get your revenge Harry.” Aurora told him with a small smile and hard eyes.

“That's fantastic!” Harry said, lighting up. He could have done it on his own (and with Ron and Hermione, naturally) since he had all the evidence he needed not to mention the Houses that backed him now, but having them helping him made a difficult task just a touch easier.

“On one condition.” Vivianne stated firmly.

“Erm. I suppose it won't hurt to hear the condition.” Harry replied, knowing that automatically saying yes usually got him into trouble.

“We want our own revenge.” Delia informed him, looking at the other women for back up.

“That makes sense.” Harry nodded.

“But having your name backing us will help us enormously.” Beatrice added.

“So you want my name?” Harry asked in confusion.

“In a sense. We want the protection of your House, the power of your House, as we plan and execute our revenge.” Alina said, explaining to him what the others had been skirting around.

“That's...are you aware of what you're asking?” It wasn't just am idle question, it wasn't just protection. It was the power of his House backing a woman of no standing. It was his reputation and future if it turned sour. They would eventually forget her name, but they would never forget the shame Harry had brought on his Houses. His name would be tarnished and any future dealings would always be tinged with distrust. _If_ they failed.

“I am.” Arabella stated firmly. “I know what we're asking you, what it could cost us, cost you, if this should backfire.”

“And still you ask?” Harry asked in a firm tone, Lord Potter-Black now at the forefront.

“Is it any less than what you are asking of us?” She challenged, her head tipping up slightly in defiance.

“No.” Harry said after a moment of thought, inclining his head in her direction. “No, it's not. You have my Houses.”

“Than-wait, what?” Vivianne asked, her eyes growing wide in shock. “Houses. As in more than one?”

“Officially, I am Lord Harry James Potter-Black.” Harry informed the group.

The silence was a little uncomfortable. “Well.” Arabella stated, shaking them all out of their stupor. “That's...something. A good thing. A very good thing. We now have far more backing than we originally planned. This can only mean good things for our plans!”

“Once we have them.” Raina pointed out with a small chuckle.

“Details, details.” Arabella waved away.

“So I can count on your testimonies then?” Harry asked them, needing to hear them say it out loud in confirmation.

Vivianne smiled darkly. “You can be sure he won't ever teach anything to anyone ever again.”

“You know, I'd be afraid if I didn't whole-heartedly believe he deserves everything that's coming his way.” Harry said lightly.

~

The only thing that puzzled Harry as he made his way back to the castle was how, exactly, Lord Malfoy was involved in all of this. Despite the brief meetings he had had with the older man, there was no indication that he gained anything out of this. Lord Malfoy had shown his disgust and was against Snape's plan to ruin Harry, but was that really as far as it went? There was the obvious connection he now had to Draco, but that was well after knowing that Harry had broken free of his chains. So what was Lord Malfoy's angle?

Harry seriously doubted that the man simply _happened_ to be here, on the day he chose to meet all these women and gather them for revenge. He strongly suspected that the other man had known. How? Why was he even interested? It was awfully convenient that the man had shown up here, holding a damning picture of Snape and his mother. Had Harry been expected to put the puzzle pieces together?

There was a niggling thought, however small it may have been, that maybe the man was working with Snape. That maybe he wanted to know how far Harry had gotten and was prepared to ruin him alongside Snape, no matter what his son may have thought about it. Why though? That was the question that he kept circling back to: why? As far as he could tell, Lord Malfoy neither gained nor lost anything no matter how this whole thing played out.

So why did he seem so invested in the outcome?

~~~~~~

It had been two months since the worst revelation in his life (maybe second, but did Voldemort even count anymore?) and he hadn't heard a thing from the women. It was Harry's unfortunate task during those long months to make sure that their plans didn't fall apart at the seams. Which, of course, meant that Harry had to keep pretending with Snape and if he was being honest (which he was) it was getting harder and harder with each meeting.

He knew that Snape had started to show signs of suspicion because despite Harry’s best efforts, he couldn’t make himself be intimate with Snape in any way, shape, or form. Not while he was building something with Draco. He knew he was pulling away from Snape and that Snape was slowly trying to reel him back in.

The problem, of course, was that Harry knew everything and had started to rebuff Snape at every turn. In the beginning it had been easy for Harry to get out of spending any time with Snape. He had a multitude of owls he had to return (he was beyond grateful for all the people that had taken the time to send him something, however small, about his parents) which had taken up a large amount of his time. Once that was over, however, he was forced to use the good old ‘so how well _did_ you know my father’ routine until it inevitably lost its shine and Snape started to become immune to it. It helped even less to bring up his mother because Snape simply bypassed the entire conversation.

It had gotten so bad that Harry was currently forced to tell Snape that he was busy studying for his upcoming exams. In four months.

He was doomed.

“What's that?” Hermione asked in apprehension, making Harry jump back into reality with a start. Seeing the owl in front of him, he quickly took the letter and fed the owl a piece of meat before tearing into the letter and scanning it.

After what Harry had told them in the meeting they had all been a little more cautious about discussing their plans, no matter how many spells they put up, just in case something slipped and got back to Snape. They needed to be far more careful than they had been previously. There was more at stake now.

“It's the...erm...convention I mentioned earlier?” Harry said, fully aware of prying ears. “They reached a decision and would like my input.” He said as he quickly read through the letter.

“You should also probably mention to the er, heads of the convention that maybe they should start helping you with your...speech. Since you'll be presenting. At the convention.” Hermione said, stumbling over the words and subtly looking around to see if anyone was listening in.

“Yeah, that's a good idea. They said they'd like to have a conversation with me though.” Harry said with a nod.

“That's not a bad thing. Probably want to go over the uh, itinerary.” Ron pointed out between bites.

“They want me to meet them next weekend. Do we have anything then?” Harry questioned.

“I don't think so. We just had the Hogsmeade weekend so there's not another one any time soon, no Quidditch, no detentions.” Hermione said with a pointed look.

“And it's not like you need to sneak out, we can just sign ourselves out.” Ron added.

“We need a good excuse though.” Harry replied with a thoughtful frown.

“More ink? Parchment? You've lost your coat and need a new one.” Ron listed off, getting more into it as he thought of various excuses.

“You could always pretend to go on another date with Draco.” Hermione said in an off-hand manner as she took the letter from Harry and scanned it.

“How am I supposed to pretend to go out on a date? Wouldn't he find out?” Harry asked perplexed.

“Not if you don't tell him.” She replied, rolling her eyes as if it should have been obvious.

“But what if he wants to ask me out and he sees that I've got my name down and that I'll be going out on a date and then Saturday comes about and I don't take him. Then he confronts me but obviously I can't tell him so he'll naturally think I'm cheating on him and then he breaks it off and I'll be left with a broken heart! This can only end badly. No, we think of something else.” He finished firmly, already a little green at the thought of both having to lie to Draco and be confronted by him and not be able to tell him the truth. He'd rather play it safe than have an extra layer of stress on his shoulders.

“Merlin! Hermione, do you want them to break up? Don't give him bad advice!” Ron scolded his girlfriend. “Just say you need supplies.” He said to Harry after he was done glaring at Hermione.

“And if they ask about owl ordering them?” Hermione snarked, glaring right back at Ron.

Ron waved away the question. “Don't be stupid, they don't allow sixth years to owl order.”

“Yes they do.” Hermione replied back almost instantly.

“No they don't.” Ron snorted, rolling his eyes.

“Have you tried?” Harry asked, wondering what the big deal was. If he couldn't then it would actually help him so he wasn't quite sure why Hermione was arguing the opposite.

“Several times.” Ron nodded.

“But...that shouldn- oh.” Hermione muttered in confusion before her face cleared in understanding.

“Oh?” Ron and Harry asked simultaneously.

“Fred and George.” She answered, looking wryly at the both of them.

“Ohh. Yeah. Maybe ask me next time if you need something.” Harry said with an understanding nod. “Still doesn't help my problem though.”

“Use the sweater option. Can't owl order that if you don't know your size and I highly doubt you know yours.”

“I thought it was a coat.” Ron asked, a little miffed that his brothers had ruined another thing for him.

“You need more sweaters.” Hermione told Harry with a pointed look at the threadbare one he was currently wearing.

Harry slumped in dejection since he didn't like shopping all that much. They lapsed into an easy silence as Ron dejectedly began doing his homework while Harry started to reply to the women and Hermione continued her deep dive while in research mode.

“This is getting complicated.” Harry hedged after he had finished writing his reply.

“It always was.” Hermione answered distractedly.

“Right, but-I mean, what do I tell Draco? I can't keep him in the dark, it feels wrong. Do I tell him anything at all? Everything?”

Hermione looked up from her research and frowned at Harry. “What brought this on?”

“We're nearing the end of the official Courting. I'm going to marry him, Hermione. And before you say anything, yes I know we're far too young and careers and blablabla, but I love him, ok?” Harry told her, more than a little defensively. “And when you said earlier to pretend, I kind of imagined having to lie to him and I really don’t want to do that. Besides the fact that he would eventually know I was lying to him…” Harry hesitated. “I just don’t want to.” He finished with a helpless shrug, not quite able to put into words exactly how unsettled he was feeling at the prospect. It was one thing to not tell him because Draco didn’t know yet, but it was another thing completely to outright lie to him.

Hermione softened. “If you love him, then tell him.”

“What?” Ron asked, confused and hoping for something to distract him from his potions essay.

“How does that make sense?” Harry asked simultaneously.

“Harry. What the women are doing, what we're doing, it's not something that can be hidden away. It's a bloody miracle that Ron hasn't spilled the beans already.”

“Oi! I take offense to that!” Ron spluttered out indignantly. Hermione merely waved him away and handed him a book that would help him with his essay. He slumped in his seat and grumbled but took the book.

“What does that have to do with anything?” Harry asked bewildered.

“I mean that everyone will know. Draco will find out because it'll be in the papers. If you do love him the way I think you do, then tell him. He can be mad at you any which way, but if he hears it from anyone other than you? I don't think you'll get married.” Hermione stated bluntly.

Harry winced and deflated with a huff. “Yeah. That's what I thought too.”

“Do you need back-up?” Hermione asked, patting his arm in consolation.

“Merlin no! He'll get on me about how you knew before me and then he'll figure out that you're helping me and get even madder.”

“How does that even make sense?” She wondered aloud as her face scrunched up in confusion.

“He's the jealous sort.” Harry said happily as Ron rolled his eyes and Hermione looked at him like he was stupid. He took offense to that.

~~~~~~

Somewhere through the first half of the explanation Draco started to shut down his expressions. By the mid-way mark, he was beginning to resemble stone. By the end? Well, Harry had the urge to poke him to make sure he hadn't turned to stone.

“So,” Harry hedged, “that's all of it.” Silence filled the room and Harry started to fidget. “Draco?” He asked softly, unsurely.

“I always knew I liked you more than you liked me, but to hear you say it? Were you ever even serious about me?” Draco asked, voice aloof and devoid of emotion.

“No! I mean yes! Fuck! No, listen to me. Yes, in the beginning that was true. You did like me more than I liked you but that was because I had absolutely no idea you felt anything other than hatred towards me. It took weeks before I actually believed it, weeks of testing you to see, to check, that you weren't having me on.” Harry explained as quickly as he could, knowing he was already fucking up the explanation because the look Draco gave him was anything but comforting.

“So this is my fault?” Draco asked, visibly incensed now and frankly, that was a relief to Harry because any emotion was better than nothing with Draco.

“NO! This isn't anyone's fault at all! Are you even listening to me? I'm blooding Courting you, you absolute moron! It's not a fucking whim, I'm not doing it to humiliate you or any other stupid reason you're going to think of because for some crazy reason I'm actually in love with you! And no, that wouldn't have happened if Snape hadn't seduced me, it wouldn't have happened if I hadn't overheard Snape and your father go on about how much you complained about me and how they thought you were in love with me. I told you when I first asked you out on a date that I needed to know if there was anything at all between us. If after everything we had done to each other that I could even like you, let alone love you. This isn't some stupid romance film where we just fall in love. You're a Pureblood bullying git that's prejudiced against my best friend for being alive and against my other best friend for being poor. Not to mention the amount of times you've made fun of my own half-blood status and my dead parents. You've tried to get me into trouble more times than I can count, you've tried hexing and cursing me just as often, and you never stop laughing at me for whatever little thing you can think of. Honestly, you're a bit of a fucking nightmare!" Harry ranted, trying to convey how much he wanted to be in this relationship with Draco. He was fairly sure it wasn’t coming across as he meant it by the continued look of fury on Draco’s face.

“Then why are you even here? Why are you with me? Everything you've just said is reason enough not to go through with this! Everything you've just said makes me think you're just using me to humiliate me like I've humiliated you!” Draco stated angrily, his cheeks red and his eyes narrowed.

“Why aren't you listening to me?” Harry screamed at him in aggravation. “Yes, you are a nightmare, but I'm pretty sure I was a nightmare right back!”

“You were!” Draco bellowed back.

“Well there you go!” Harry said triumphantly, raising his hands. “Why are you in this with me if you keep thinking I'm out to get you?”

“Because I'm love with you, you stupid git! And you keep pushing me away to spend time with your stupid friends and you let Weasley hang all over you like a monkey while the Mu-”

“Malfoy.” Harry growled dangerously.

“-ggleborn holds your hand and you have close conversations with her and why can't you have that with me?” Draco asked aggressively.

“Are you serious right now? I _just_ told you that they were my best friends! Do you think it's fun for me to see Pansy simper at you like a fucking..._something_? Everyone knows she wants you! And you let her! You're letting me Court you, you're letting me marry you and then you turn around and flirt with her!”

“She's a friend!” Draco yelled as he threw his hand up in exasperation. “I'm not flirting with her, I'm having conversations with her.”

“So is Hermione! So is Ron! The difference is that neither of them try to kiss me and try to be the next Lady Malfoy!” Harry roared back in anger. “And I'm trying to have that closeness with you! I'm here, telling you everything, even though you could ruin everything, I trust you-_us_-enough that I'm letting you in and for some reason it's still not enough!”

“Because I don't believe you like me!” Draco yelled at Harry, frustration in every line of his body.

“How can I not like you? I'm going to marry you!” Harry retorted a little outraged.

“That doesn't mean you like me.” Draco pointed out.

“Of course not!” Harry said, thoroughly fed up with the conversation. “Just because I love you doesn't mean I have to like you all the bloody time, does it? I very much don't like you right now!”

“Well.” Draco huffed out, very offended. “It's not like I like you very much right now either.”

“Well good!”

“Fine!”

“Fantastic!”

They glared at each other from across the room, neither willing to give an inch until the other came to their senses. Harry narrowed his eyes and huffed in irritation. Why did he like Draco again? He knew that this had been boiling up for some time, neither of them willing to have this conversation even though they needed it, but having it now, especially after what Harry had just told him, made it feel about ten times worse then it should have.

“So you're going to marry me?” Draco asked, breaking the heated silence.

“Isn't that the whole point of Courting?” Harry asked, irritation still evident.

Draco ground his teeth. “That doesn't mean much. It's just a serious statement of intent.”

“I know that. I did get my Lordships, remember?” Harry asked slowly, as if Draco was being stupid. Which, really, he was.

“I'm going to hex you.” Draco stated firmly.

“Fantastic, then I get to hex you right back.” Harry replied, a little childishly.

“Don't threaten me!”

“Then don't threaten me!”

“It was a promise, not a threat!” They both lapsed into silence again, neither willing to stop glaring at the other. “So you're serious about the Courting?” Draco asked in only a slightly angry tone.

“Draco!” Harry scream-yelled.

“What?” Draco asked, aggravation written on his face.

“What did I just say? _Yes_, I know exactly what I'm doing, _yes_ I'm bloody serious about Courting you, _yes_ I'm serious about marrying you! Any other answers I can keep repeating for you until it seeps into your thick skull?”

Draco gave him an exaggerated eye roll. "I needed to know you were serious. How am I supposed to plan for a late spring wedding if I'm not sure the groom will show up?”

“We're both the groom.” Harry pointed out snidely.

Honestly, despite the anger swirling around the air, Harry felt as if they had made some serious strides in their relationship. Not only had they gotten the chance to scream at each other about the things they were still unsure about, but Harry had finally gotten to tell Draco everything. It felt like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders and as aggravating as Draco was being right now, he knew they could work this out.

“I'm not second choice?” Draco asked, a hint of insecurity coming through his voice even as he was trying to hide it.

Harry gave him a small smile, knowing that both of their tempers were starting to wane even if the irritation was still there. “Not even for a second.” Draco gave him a look while Harry smiled innocently. “Honest mistake! I promise you're nothing but my first choice. Better?”

“Much.” He said loftily. “Thank you.” He stated more softly, after a short silence.

“Are we still getting married?” Harry asked, now feeling a little unsure himself.

“Can't plan a spring wedding if it's not with you.” Draco responded with a small shoulder shrug.

“Can we invite Pansy?” Harry asked.

“I thought you didn't like her?” Draco questioned him, looking at Harry like he had gone a little crazy.

“I don't. If she's there I can force her to watch me make you mine permanently while she can't do a bloody thing about it without looking like a jealous cow.”

Draco snorted but looked pleased. “Possessive bastard.”

“And about Ron and Hermione...” Harry started.

“Yes?” Draco asked, careful but still full of tension.

“They're in love. With each other. I love them like family, nothing more, nothing less.”

Draco sighed dramatically. “I suppose I can try.”

Harry's lips twitched. “Thank you.” They walked around each other until they both reached out and tangled their fingers together. “We're a mess aren't we?” He asked.

“The worst, but I don't want to let you go as long as I'm still the one you want.” Draco answered seriously.

“As long as I'm still the one you want too.” Harry said back softly, looking down at their entwined fingers as he gently squeezed Draco's hand.

“Should we tell father he's the reason we're together?” Draco asked suddenly.

Harry snorted. “Only if you want to horrify him. Let's keep that one for a special occasion, like Christmas or his birthday.”

Draco laughed lightly and it made Harry's heart skip a beat. “Let's keep it for when we're in trouble instead.”

~~~***~~~

“Hey Hermione.” Ron asked as they made their way to Hogsmeade. “Did you ever figure out what those plants were?”

While it was something of a loose end for them, Harry didn't particularly find that a bunch of plants were worth all the trouble he knew Hermione was going through. Amidst all the evidence and the testimony and backing he was getting from the women, the mini-mystery had fallen by the wayside. Right now he was more interested in what the women had decided and if that meant that they were going to help him.

Well, no, that was a lie. He knew they would help him get Snape barred from teaching ever again because they had already agreed to that. Today he was going to find out how he was going to help the women in their revenge, if they had decided that revenge was something they wanted. He wasn't sure the older women would want to do anything, but the younger women were a little less...reserved in their need for vengeance.

Hermione huffed in aggravation. “Somewhat. The bundle includes some of the most basic ingredients for the basis of most potions so it's a little hard to narrow down exactly which potion he might have used it for.”

“What if it wasn't a potion?” Harry asked.

“What?” Hermione asked confused.

“Well, what if whatever he used those plants for wasn't necessarily a potion?” Truth was that Snape using those plants in a potion would be the most logical answer. He was a Potion's Master and he presumably used them everyday. Why would he put these specific ones aside? What made these ones special compared to the literal hundreds of others in his stores? Harry could only conclude that they were used in something special and that would mean something not potions related.

As theories went, not a great one, which is also why he couldn't let himself get sidetracked by something that would have no bearing on what he was trying to accomplish. They may have been in the trophy box with the rest of the letters and pictures but there was no evidence that the two were related at all. At the end of the day, those plants didn't matter and he wasn't bull-headed enough to make them matter. Not right now at least, not when they were so close to getting rid of Snape that Harry could actually taste it.

“So he what? Wanted to brew himself a tea?” She asked sarcastically. Ron and Harry shared an exasperated look over her head.

“He bloody well might have.” Harry groused out. “You just said yourself that some of them are the basis of almost all potions, who's to say they weren't used for something else?”

“Because-because.” Hermione spluttered out.

“Because then she'd have a lot more work and we're trying not to drown her in research.” Ron said slowly, giving them both a look to get them to knock it off. “Besides, we're here and Harry needs to hear what they've decided.”

“Are you coming in with me?” Harry asked them both.

“Plausible deniability.” Ron answered even as he shook his head.

“What?” Harry asked, wondering if they were even talking about the same thing anymore.

“They can't know all of your resources. You need to keep something back for protection.” Ron pointed out as Hermione nodded in agreement.

“Do I need it?” He asked, looking at both of them. While it was true that they had become more cautious about bandying information about, he wasn't quite sold on how far they needed to take that secrecy. Did it really matter all that much if the women knew he had friends? Rather, friends that were helping him. Wouldn't it be obvious he wasn't doing this alone? On the other hand, Harry really didn't need to advertise that fact just in case something did go wrong. Harry had his Lordships after all and Ron and Hermione, in the grand scheme of things, were rather helpless. If he could protect them by having them operate in the dark then that's what he would do.

“Knowing you...it really can't hurt”. Ron said wryly, echoing Harry’s thoughts so closely that Harry felt a shiver run down his back.

~

“We decided to curse his dick off.” Alina stated after Harry had ordered his drink and sat down with them in one of the few booths in the Three Broomsticks.

Harry choked on air. “Pardon?” He coughed out, sure he had misheard.

Instead of having all fifteen women congregate in one room again, they had assigned three temporary leaders (which Harry figured meant the women who had the time to be able to handle this on top of their daily lives) who where currently watching Harry with various amused looks. It was a better way to insure they weren't acting suspiciously since it seemed more like a family get together than anything else. Alina, one of the oldest in the group, was sitting next to Arabella and was clearly the person the group had decided would speak for them all. Prudence was sitting next to Harry and wasn't even trying to keep her amusement contained.

“We're going to curse his dick off.” Alina repeated. Ok, no, he had heard her correctly.

“That's...” He started but had no idea how to finish.

“We know.” Prudence told him gently, still smiling.

“That's the whole reason we're doing it.” Arabella informed him, a little too much on the aggressive side for Harry's liking. “And he deserves it.”

“That's mostly the reason.” Alina amended, giving Arabella a reprimanding look.

“Is that all you're planning?” He asked after clearing his throat. He didn't really want to ask, but, well, he had said he would help any way he could.

“Oh no, that's just the best part of the whole thing.” Prudence replied cheerfully.

“Lovely.” Harry said faintly and was all too happy to take a big gulp of his butterbeer to keep himself from saying anything stupid.

“The thing is Harry,” Alina started as she picked up on his unease, “you got off easy.”

He blinked at her. “You think I got off _easy_?” It was safe to say he was a little offended by her comment.

“Yes. You were close to falling for him, but you never did. You were lucky. The rest of us? Not so much. He made us love him, gave us sweet nothings and little gifts to hold our affections before pulling the rug from under us. Most of us have spent years wondering what we did wrong. If only we were better, older, prettier, smarter, you name it, we thought it. He took something from us that we can never get back again. This little piece of revenge? It won't ever make up for what he's done to us, the damage he inflicted, but we need it. Maybe we are being petty, but he took young girls and told them all the right things to seduce them and then threw them away when he was done with them. _He raped us_.” She stated in a hard voice. “We may have given him our consent, may have been of age, but we never stood a chance. He _manipulated_ us. We weren't old enough to understand what he was doing, that it was wrong, and now we want him to understand that there are consequences and those consequences are going to put him under.”

“So what do you want to do?” Harry said softly, taking the time to really think about what she had been telling him. Maybe he had gotten off easy, but the simple fact was that what Snape had done to them would have been completely different to what he would have done to Harry. Not in the sense of the seduction but in the sense of the endgame. For these women it was a brutal breaking of their hearts. For Harry it would have been self-inflicted exile. Partly self-inflicted, he amended quickly. Harry was smart enough to know that pointing this out would only result in an argument so he kept quiet. He might have planned a whole lot for Harry, but he had actually gone through with his plans for all of these women. Snape deserved everything that was coming his way.

“Ruin his life. I don't want to walk through magical street and think there's a chance I might bump into him. I want him too afraid to ever come back here. I spent years thinking that every corner I turned meant that I would bump into him, that he would see me and miss what we had. That he was wrong when he said the things he did.” Alina said softly but strongly. Arabella and Prudence nodded in agreement.

Harry hesitated. He knew that he had no idea what these women went through, not really, no idea what kind of emotional damage Snape had caused them and it made him wary of even saying something because he knew he had no place to judge them. He had promised them that he would help, but could he really do this? Could he really exile a man from his home? Thinking about it and actually doing it where two very different things.

Prudence put a hand on his shoulder. “I know it's a lot to take in but we both know he won't stop, regardless of whether or not he's in this country.”

Harry closed his eyes in pain as he acknowledged that brutal truth. Snape was far too obsessed with his mother to ever let her go, to even let a vague look-a-like of her go. He nodded.

“I said I'd help and I'm a man of my word.” He opened his eyes and hardened his heart. “Tell me what you need.”

“We need all the evidence you gathered.” Alina stated promptly.

“Done.” Harry replied as he took out the box from the bag Hermione had handed him before they parted ways. They hadn’t been sure which way the women would fall, but they were going to plan for everything and now Harry was glad they had.

“Is it safe to assume these are copies? Could you get the real thing before he could do something with them?” Alina asked, as she looked over everything Snape had kept over the years.

“I may have done something to the box in which the evidence could be permanently damaged.” Harry stated slowly with a grin.

“That's our boy!” Prudence crowed with delight.

“We'll that's one worry down.” Arabella stated gruffly and Harry was starting to wonder what her problem was. Either she didn’t want to do this at all (which seemed unlikely given that she was here and was quite adamant about Snape getting his) or she had a problem with him (far more likely and also a little puzzling since he knew he hadn’t met her before this whole debacle). Not his problem though, not today at least.

Harry looked from one woman to the next in curiosity. “Am I allowed to know the plans?”

The women hesitated and looked to each other, a silent discussion quickly had between glances and raised eyebrows.

“It might help.” Prudence said with a nod. Alina nodded in return and Arabella huffed out an annoyed breath but didn't object.

“First, the school. We know that it's mostly your plan but we discussed it and we've all agreed that even if you hadn't mentioned it that we would have done it ourselves. We want to cut off his ‘supply’. Then, the papers. Ruin his reputation and make sure that every mother watches over her daughter that much more closely while he's still living here.” Prudence told him with a feral edge in her voice that made Harry a little wary of her.

“And then curse his dick off?” He asked.

“Oh no, that's just a bit of fun.” Alina said with a dismissive wave of her hand. “Ideally we'd like to have him behind bars, but the law isn't in our favour. We know we'd never get a conviction.”

“So you want him to be unable to get work here and be forced to leave?” Harry asked, wanting to make sure he knew where they were going with this.

“In a sense. We want him to be a social outcast. Once you take away that layer of protection, one of the more logical options is to move. Especially if no one will hire him because of what the papers will print. He’ll be seen as a liability to any establishment or company he chooses to work for”. Prudence said as she took her turn thumbing through the box Harry had given them.

“And the papers will just let you print this? Isn't that labial?” Harry asked cautiously.

“Oh, no need to worry about that.” Arabella piped up. “I have someone who can help us.”

“You have someone else helping out?” Harry asked, both concern and warning in his voice.

“He won't spread this about, I give you my word. He's family.” She stated firmly.

“And the papers will listen?” Harry asked a little doubtfully, changing the topic.

“They'd be foolish not to.” Arabella said with a smug smirk that he could have sworn he had seen before on a different face.

“So he has power.” Harry mumbled, lost in thought. There were quite a few Lords out there, but not knowing Arabella's personal history made it hard to figure out which Lord she would go to and who would help her in turn. “Is he worth the risk?”

“I gave you my word.” Arabella said with a frown.

“And I have no doubt that your word would stand. He is an unknown however, and I have to be sure that this stays with us. Any word of this leaking before we're ready and Snape gets away with all of it. Not to even mention what he might do to all of us if he figures it out quickly enough.”

Arabella glared at him. “I know that.” She snarled at him through gritted teeth.

Alina put a hand on her shoulder. “Calm down now. He's got a right to ask, a right we all have. You're not just putting him at risk; you're putting all of us at risk. You may trust him but we can't.”

Arabella's glare lessened as she heaved in a deep breath. “Ok. Ok. I can't tell you his name for the same reasons I won't tell him any of yours. At least, not before we're ready. I've known this man my whole life and he's practically an uncle, probably is actually. He knows...a little of what happened with Snape and he's always wanted Snape to suffer. He'll help.”

Harry exchanged glances with the other two. “It's enough for me.” He said with a nod.

Alina and Prudence gave each other a silent look before both slowly agreeing to have this mystery person help them. It was a big leap of faith, having an outsider move pieces on their chessboard, but Harry knew that any help they had that would make this process move faster would be worth the risk. If it didn't pan out, they would still have different news outlets to go to.

“Now,” He asked, changing the subject again, “how do we go about getting the school governors together so we can get him fired?”

“That's actually the easy part.” Prudence said with a laugh.

“Not from my perspective.” Harry mumbled with a frown. “I'd have done it otherwise.”

Her eyes crinkled in amusement. “You would have if you'd known how to do it. It's very simple: you log a formal complaint with the board.”

“That's it?” He asked incredulously. It couldn't have been that easy...could it?

She nodded. “Essentially. You log the complaint, they call you up for your version of events and then they call Snape up for his. Considering the subject matter, they would need to launch an investigation. Of course, having us write in at the same time you log in your complaint makes this all go that much faster. I do wonder if they would feel the need to investigate before interviewing you.” She added thoughtfully.

Arabella cleared her throat. “Erm, I don't know how helpful this is considering I can't tell you who, but I might have an 'in' with the governors.”

Harry narrowed his eyes. “Does this person happen to be the same one that will help us with the papers?” Arabella glared at him and Harry rolled his eyes. “Calm down, I just need to make sure how much this person will actually know. It was one thing with the papers, but doing this will have him knowing...almost everything and that could turn into a disaster.”

“You're such a positive person, you know that?” Arabella asked sarcastically.

“Enough. The both of you.” Prudence snapped out before Harry could retort. “While Harry does make a point, Arabella's 'in' might actually be useful.”

“How so?” Alina asked, clearly uncomfortable with having an outsider play an even bigger role in their plans.

“If we tell this person the bare bones and have him question exactly what Snape has been doing all these years, they might just launch an investigation into his conduct before going directly to the interviews.” Prudence explained.

“Which helps how?” Harry asked, not quite sure how this would be helpful. Snape would eventually be informed however the investigation went.

“We need time to set up the article for the papers. We need to meet the reporters and tell our stories, they need to verify our accounts of what happened and conduct their own investigations to make sure we told them the truth. This takes time. We have meetings set up with three major papers next weekend. If you can hold off for a week after that before you send in your complaint, they'll have had enough time to snoop around the other women, but not enough time to come to the school.” Prudence clarified.

“Right.” Harry replied slowly, deep in thought. “The only problem with that is if we do wait an extra week it might seem like we're setting him up.”

“Which we are.” Arabella pointed out.

“Yes, but we don't want the public to think that since they might turn on us. We want there to be absolutely no doubt in out stories.” Harry said sternly.

“So what do you suggest?” Alina asked, thoughtful and less uncomfortable than before. Clearly having a plan that had a high percentage of success seemed to calm her down.

“If you have that meeting set up for next weekend, then I should send in my complaint sometime this week. Make it seem like I told you lot of what I was doing and you wanted to make sure everyone knew the truth, regardless of the outcome.”

“This is all happening quite quickly.” Prudence stated. Harry wasn't quite sure what that was supposed to mean. Wasn't that the point of it all, to make sure they bombarded Snape from all sides so that he didn't have enough time to retaliate? They needed all their information out there before they could carry on to the next phase of their plans.

“We can't stop now though.” Harry said, knowing it was a little unhelpful to someone who was looking for reassurance. “Arabella, do you think you could speak with your person today?”

“Today?” She asked in surprise. “Why today?”

“I want to send in my complaint as quickly as possible. The more time between the interview and my letter, the better it looks for us. Might actually do it today, they would need time to convene anyway. The faster your contact knows what's going on, the more luck he'll have in keeping Snape in the dark for as long as possible.”

Arabella nodded determinedly. “I'll go after we're done.”

“Great!” Harry smiled widely before turning back to Prudence. “So, how do I go about sending in my complaint?”

~~~***~~~

“You're wearing that?” Draco asked, a frown marring his face.

“What else should I be wearing?” Harry replied, looking down at his casual wear.

They both had some free time and had decided to venture into Hogsmeade for another date, something that Harry was happy with since Draco had promised to help him look for a sweater that he should have bought the last time but hadn't for obvious reasons. To be fair, Draco had suggested a day out where he wouldn't be focused on his racing thoughts concerning the women's interviews and what the governors where doing with his complaint. It had been a rather stressful week and he was more than happy to leave it all behind him for a few hours.

“Something a little more formal, perhaps?” Draco suggested, eyeing him up and down with disapproval.

“Why would I do that? We're just going to Hogsmeade.” Harry asked confused as they walked out of the gates and towards the village.

Draco snorted. “Of course we're not. I made plans with my parents so we're going to lunch at the manor.”

Harry choked on his own spit. “We're going where?” He spluttered out.

“To lunch.” Draco stated with a smile, probably knowing exactly what he was doing to Harry.

“With your parents!” Harry was definitely not panicking. “Should I get them something? Flowers? Chocolates? What does your mother like? Is she allergic to anything? Draco! Why didn't you tell me before now so I could prepare?”

Draco rolled his eyes and looked at Harry fondly. “Because you would have panicked, like you're doing right now.”

“There's a lot to panic about! Your father hates me!” Harry almost yelled, giving in to his panic just a little as he wrung his hands together.

“Of course he does, I'm his favourite.”

“You're his only.” Harry pointed out.

“Which just goes to show you how important I am.” Draco said loftily.

“Is this supposed to make me panic less, because I can tell you now it's not working.”

“Don't be stupid, I'm simply preparing you. Besides, I've already got you something to give to my parents. They'll love it.”

Harry blinked at him, his panic fading as he watched Draco. “Are...are you trying to make sure your parents like me?”

Draco's cheeks slowly heated. “Don't be ridiculous. Why would I need to do that?”

Harry's shoulders relaxed as he stepped closer to Draco and pulled the other man into his arms. “I love you.” He said, a large happy smile on his face. “Even if you did just trick me into officially meeting your parents.”

“Idiot.” Draco said fondly before kissing him. “Now let's go.”

Without any kind of warning, Draco twisted and apparated away, Harry still in his arms.

“Merlin!” Harry moaned, gagging as soon as they had landed. “When the bloody hell were you going to tell me you could do that?”

“Well, I'm not actually able to do that. Officially.” Draco confessed, rubbing Harry's back as he tried not to throw up. “Father had me practicing all of last summer and I perfected it just after Christmas.”

Heaving in a deep breath, Harry stood up and turned to Draco. “So you wanted to show off?”

“No, I wanted to show you...I just wanted to show you.” He said with a shrug of his shoulders. It was something that was so out of character that Harry had to blink twice before he understood what Draco finally meant.

“Oh.” He said softly. “That's-I-you're really clever.”

“Yeah?” Draco asked just as softly.

Harry nodded. “Yeah.” He leaned in and kissed Draco softly, lingering in the intimacy and savouring the hope and love that bloomed. Before he could even contemplate deepening the kiss, an elf popped up. Jumping at the sound, they both blushed and laughed before straightening their clothes and walking into Malfoy manor, letting the elf inform Draco's mother that they were here for lunch.

Harry huffed as he looked around at the elegance that surrounded him. “This is where you grew up?”

“Something wrong with it?” Draco asked, a little defensively.

Harry shook his head. “If this is where you grew up, you're going to laugh at where I did. This place is huge!”

“It's always been in the family.” A female voice stated proudly. Harry turned and saw Draco's mother making her way to them.

“Mother!” Draco said happily before meeting her half way and giving her a short hug, but one that was still filled with affection.

“And this must be your Harry.” She said, turning to Harry with Draco at her side.

Harry nodded, oddly pleased by how she named him. “Lady Malfoy.” Harry said with a polite nod and a bow. “Thank you for allowing me into your home.”

“None of that now, Harry dear.” Narcissa said with a smile. “I'm simply Narcissa to you as you are Harry to me. If you are agreeable, that is?”

“Most assuredly.” Harry replied with a smile, catching Draco rolling his eyes at the dramatics of it all. “Allow me to escort you.” Harry said, offering his arm.

Narcissa smiled wider and took his arm. “Lovely manners. We're eating in the sunroom today. It's still a little chilly out, but we do have a lovely day upon us with all that sun, so I do hope you don't mind if I make the most out of it.”

“Of course not, that sounds lovely.” Harry replied with a bright smile.

Draco snorted. “Will father be joining us?”

“You did request for all of us to have lunch, dear.”

“Thank you mother. Must we wait for him then or shall we be seated and begin?”

“Oh I don't think he'll be much long, but let us sit. There's no point in waiting for your father when we can enjoy ourselves now.” Narcissa stated with a smile as she pointed Draco and Harry to their seats. Draco pulled out his mother's chair and helped her sit before Harry and Draco took their own seats. Before they could utter another pleasantry, Lord Malfoy walked into the room. As soon as his eyes found Harry's form they frowned in disapproval.

“I don't recall you telling me we would be having guests, darling.”

“Lord Malfoy.” Harry said with the appropriate nod. Draco just raised his eyebrows and smirked. Harry felt like punching him for this torture. Although, if he was being fair (and he really didn't want to be), it was definitely taking his mind off everything else going on in his life. He just wasn't sure he wanted any kind of other stress distracting him from his previous stress. _Merlin_.

“You may call him Lucius, Harry dear.” Narcissa said with a smile as her husband walked to his seat across from her.

“Lord Malfoy will do just fine.” Lord Malfoy injected quickly with a glare in his wife's direction. Harry didn't see her returning look but the way Lord Malfoy paled said more than enough.

“And how are your classes going, darling?” Narcissa asked turning to Draco, who smirked proudly at her.

“Perfect. I'm confident that I'll get all O's.” He said proudly, puffing up his chest in a way that made Harry stifle a giggle.

“Even in potions? I had heard that Severus was being more difficult of late.” Lord Malfoy replied with a narrow eyed look towards Harry.

Draco rolled his eyes. “If I can survive seven years under Severus, I'm positive I could become the best Potion's Master in all of Britain if I wanted to.”

“Which you don't.” Narcissa stated even though Harry heard a question in her tone.

“Which I don't.” Draco confirmed.

Harry had a slight frown on his face. “Anything the matter, Harry dear?” Narcissa asked after glancing his way.

“I was just wondering, and feel free to tell me I'm being rude, but how do you know, erm, Severus?”

“Oh, we all went to school together I believe.” Lord Malfoy nodded his head at his wife's look but refused to say anything. “He was just a few years younger than we were and in the same house. That usually brings people together.”

“So it does.” Lord Malfoy finally added on after a severe look from his wife. Harry was just happy that he had at least one of them on his side.

“Why, did you believe that two purebloods would not have befriended a half-blood with no standing?” She questioned lightly. Harry held back a snort at that, knowing it would get him into trouble.

“I never meant any insult, Lady Malfoy. It just seemed odd to me, given the political situation of the time...” He trailed off.

Lord Malfoy snorted inelegantly. “Political situation.” He mumbled, still giving Harry a cool look.

“Well it wasn't that unheard of.” Narcissa frowned and tilted her head the barest of tilts. “Wasn't cousin Sirius friends with two other mixed bloods? What were their names again?”

“Remus!” Harry breathed out, shocked and elated. How could he have forgotten about Remus?

“Lupin, that's right. I do wonder what happened to him. They were all so terribly close.”

“Mother, why is this important?” Draco asked, clearly confused and a little put out at the turn in conversation. “I thought we were here to see if we could continue on to a Bonding contract?”

Lord Malfoy choked on his tea. “What?” He almost bellowed.

“Well what did you expect?” Draco huffed out in irritation as he rolled his eyes. “Harry doesn't have any parents-”

“Merlin Draco! We talked about this!” Harry exclaimed, both a little hurt and a little angry at how casual he was being about Harry's lack of family, _again_.

“- and since I have you two, we don't have to wait for his parents to finalize the contract. Why else would I bring him home?” Draco asked, after a short silence.

Lord Malfoy turned outraged eyes to his wife who simply beamed at her son. Harry wanted to disappear as those murderous eyes looked his way, as if all of this was his fault. Which, in all fairness, it probably was.

“Draco, maybe in the future you could warn your parents?” Harry asked tiredly as he avoided all eyes by staring at the ceiling. “And maybe also me. I would have very much liked to be informed of this.”

“What?” Draco scoffed. “Like it would make a difference?”

“Well, no.” Harry admitted. “But I'd rather like to make a better impression than this.”

“That's your own fault. I clearly remember telling you to change.”

“No,” Harry said slowly, “what you said was, and I'm quoting here, ‘you're wearing that?’.”

“See, plenty of warning.” Draco replied dismissively. Harry groaned as he let his head fall into his hands.

“You see.” Narcissa exclaimed happily as she turned to her husband. “They're perfect together.”

Lord Malfoy's look of disbelief summed up the afternoon quite nicely for Harry.

~~~***~~~

It had taken two weeks to get here, but Harry was immensely glad it finally had even if he was a nervous wreck. Being interviewed by twelve fully-grown wizards who he was certain were trying to find holes or lies in his story made him very uneasy. As it was, the school governors were a hard lot to figure out. Harry had learned from Prudence that the governors were obligated to take action on any school related issue. The issue was made more urgent by what Harry and the women were accusing Snape of so it was only natural that the governors would be a little wary of believing them without doing their own investigation first. As a result, he was feeling a little pressure to make sure he was believable, not just for himself but also for the fifteen women who had come before him.

Shaking those thoughts from his head he surveyed the room. Of the twelve people present, the only one he knew was Lord Malfoy. The man sat front and centre and Harry was a little afraid of what this would do to future of his relationship with Draco. Yes, he knew that Lord Malfoy had already known about the whole ‘Snape seduction from hell’ thing but that was before it became public knowledge. Lord Malfoy would have to have some kind of public reaction to the whole situation considering that a fair few people knew that he and Snape were on friendly terms. Harry just hoped he wouldn't be thrown under the bus when this was all said and done, not now that he and Draco had finally found their even ground.

The twelve men on the board were chosen (according to Prudence) by the houses of their children. Three from Slytherin, three from Ravenclaw, three from Hufflepuff, and three from Gryffindor. So while Lord Malfoy was the chairman (and wasn't that a heart attack inducing moment that Harry never wanted to repeat in his hopefully very long life) he was also a representative of the Slytherin section, along with Lord Richmond and Lord Accrington. It didn't escape his notice that most of the people on the board were Lords since they wanted to make sure their Heirs were taken care of in all aspects.

The three from Ravenclaw were Lord Desford, Mr. Hilliard, and Lord Davies. Of those three Harry only knew Davies for obvious reasons. He figured that the other two were the parents of students in the year above or below since he had never met them and parents tended to become more interested once their children started coming closer to the end of their education. Or so an irritated Prudence had told him.

The three from Hufflepuff were Lord Woodcroft, Lord Wenlock, and Lord Smith. Harry really hoped Smith wasn't like his son because that would only mean bad things for how this interview would go.

The final three from Gryffindor were Mr. Vane, Lord Wood, and Lord Spinnet. Harry knew all three of them (he wanted to have a stern word with Romilda's father because _no_, love potions were _not_ okay) and they hopefully knew of him and would therefore be more on his side than the other three houses. Hopefully.

“Now, seeing as we all know why we are gathered here, let us hear Lord Potter-Black's version of events.” Lord Wenlock started.

“Lord Potter-Black, if you will.” Lord Malfoy stated as all eyes turned his way.

Harry gulped. “Of course. Let me begin by clarifying that this started and finished before I gained my Lordships and my sole purpose today is to make sure this does not happen to another student.”

Twelve men nodded at him. Harry tried very hard not to think how creepy it was that they all managed to do that at the same time.

He cleared his throat. “As some of you may know, Sirius Black was my godfather.” Harry began, telling them all how Snape had started and how easy it had been for him to worm his way into Harry's heart. He told them, essentially, everything. Everything that was important, that was.

When he had gotten the notification a few days ago of the time and place of his interview he had asked Ron and Hermione for help. He needed to tell the truth but also make sure not to tell them the whole truth. He would need to...re-imagine how he had come to learn of Snape's duplicity and his plans for revenge.

He would also have to play with the timeline a little because it had been months since he had learned the truth and it would look suspicious if he had waited that long to approach the authorities. They came to the conclusion that Harry had to include the women in his explanation because there was too much time between the dates that, if Snape said anything, would make him look suspicious. He had owled Aurora and had confirmed with her the adjusted story. She had approached him after a visit to Hogsmeade where Harry had uttered something that had caught her attention. From there it was easy to stick, mostly, to the truth. They had met and the truth had come out. A convenient mix between lie and truth that would, hopefully, not ping on anyone’s radar. So he gave the twelve men in front of him a carefully edited version of how Snape had decided to ruin his life.

“That's quite the story.” Lord Desford stated, leaning back in his chair with a heavy sigh.

“And you have no idea why he would choose you?” Lord Richmond asked with a thoughtful frown.

Harry shook his head. “I really wish I did. It wouldn't help with the knowledge of what he's done but it would make it easier to understand his actions towards me.”

Several heads nodded and a few leaned in to their neighbours and had quiet conversations.

“What do you want from this?” Mr. Vane asked suddenly.

“Pardon?” Harry asked, caught a little off guard at the question. Wasn't it obvious what he wanted?

“What is your intention? Do you want justice or do you merely want to ruin his reputation? Do you want the school to know, the press? How do you see this playing out?” Mr Vane explained.

“No. No, I'd rather it be fairly private. I would like for him to 'retire' if at all possible. As I stated, I'm not the first one he has done this to and I doubt I will be the last.” Harry declared firmly.

“So you say.” Lord Smith said derisively.

“So says his track record.” Harry pointed out sharply. “This has been going on for years without anyone knowing, without anyone doing anything to stop it. How is that possible?”

“What exactly are you implying Lord Potter-Black?” Lord Desford asked sharply.

“We have several teachers, we have ghosts, we have portraits and paintings, and we have the school board.” Harry said with a pointed look. “We have all of this yet Professor Snape has been able to have ‘flings’ every year with a student without _anyone_ the wiser.”

“It is not illegal.” Lord Wood stated a little uncomfortably.

“It is frowned upon.” Mr. Vane replied as he shifted in discomfort.

“And severely morally ambiguous if what he says is true.” Lord Wenlock sighed.

“_If_ it is true.” Lord Smith butted in.

“We have more than his account Smith.” Lord Accrington said with disdain. Harry was grateful to know that the majority of the people in the room had sided with him, Smith or no Smith.

“Regardless, we are here today to hear both sides of this tale.” Lord Malfoy said silkily.

“What do you suggest?” Mr. Hilliard asked.

“We still have Severus Snape's interview to look forward to. We cannot compose our final opinions before that has happened.” Lord Malfoy stated with a firm look at his companions.

“Too true.” Lord Davies said with a nod.

“Hear hear.” Lord Spinnet added.

“Perhaps we could also do this when we do not have a witness listening in?” Lord Woodcroft said with a pointed look towards Harry.

Harry gave them a weak smile because, _damnit_, he wanted to hear this! He wanted to hear what they were thinking, what the possible outcome could be. Seeing all twelve pairs of eyes staring him down, however, made him change his mind. Besides, it wasn't as if he could actually stay in the room while they discussed the issue since he didn’t bring his cloak. He didn't exactly want to be surprised by the outcome but he already knew that regardless of what happened, the story would be out in the world soon enough. If the governors were against firing Snape, the public would take care of it by demanding his resignation. Harry had made sure, with the help of the women of course, that Snape wouldn't be getting out of this unscathed.

So with a nod and a mumbled 'of course' he left the room, only to be met with Snape. If Harry had known that they had arranged the interviews back to back he would have been less surprised, but as it stood he was. Surprised, that is. Seeing Snape coming down the hallway was an unpleasant jolt to the senses. They probably hadn't wanted to waste too much time at the school or between interviews. They needed both sides of the story before they could make any kind of judgement, despite any evidence they may have found.

Harry tried his best not to look guilty but found it hard as Snape watched him with narrowed eyes as they passed in the hallway, a look that turned Harry's stomach when he wondered what would happen once Snape figured out what was going on.

Harry made sure to not look back just in case. He made his way slowly to the common room, pondering and wondering how this would all play out, if he had put enough information into his answers, if he had kept his emotions back enough that they saw this wasn't just some tall tale. He was therefore more than relieved to see Hermione and Ron in the common room waiting for him. They quickly dragged him up to his and Ron's room and demanded a word for word recap.

Throughout the explanation and discussion that followed, Harry was a bundle of nervous energy, pacing up and down the room as he prayed to anyone that would listen that they had done enough. That all their planning and scheming would finally pay off. That this was the beginning of the end for Snape.

It was out of his hands now.

~~~~~~

Harry didn't have to wait long for a decision to be made. The very next morning he received an owl informing him that he was being summoned to the Headmaster's office at nine on the dot that same morning.

“This is it.” He said to Ron and Hermione with a big gulp, suddenly incredibly nervous.

“It’s a quarter to nine now Harry. You better get going if you want to get there on time.” Hermione said even as she pushed him up and out of his seat.

“Good luck mate!” Ron called out as he walked out of the great hall.

~

“I'm afraid we're here under some dire circumstances today.” Lucius started as he looked around the room filled with staff and board members alike. “You all have a file on the matter and I presume you each have questions. For those who are here on behalf of the school, I shall give a short summary. It has been brought to our attention that there have been some...untoward advances on a number of students by a professor. Because of this, and some serious allegations from a number of previous students, we were forced to launch an investigation into Professor Severus Snape.”

“Allegations?” McGonagall asked sharply. “What kind of allegations?”

“Investigation?” Headmaster Dumbledore asked a little angry. “Gentlemen this is improper conduct on multiple levels. Why was I not informed of the matter when it first came up?”

“Please try not to interrupt until we have finished.” Mr. Hilliard stated sternly, glaring at both Dumbledore and McGonagall. The rest of the staff seemed to find it prudent to hear everything before making any comments of their own, something Lucius was a fan of.

“To answer your question, Albus, it's because we feel you have not been impartial in this matter.” Lucius said trying his best not to show the gleeful smile he was holding back.

“And what does that mean?” McGonagall asked angrily.

~

Harry walked out the doors of the great hall, passing a few people who were wandering in for a late breakfast when he noticed movement out the corner of his eye. Now normally he would ignore this type of thing because he was in a school and there were always people about, but there was something about it that caught his attention. No doubt it was a left over from his senses when he was younger and had to be alert at every sight and sound around him (the Dursley’s could burn in _hell_, thanks). He turned and saw Snape striding angrily towards him and Harry swallowed down his fear and straightened his back. If this was going to happen, here of all places, he wouldn't let Snape catch him off guard.

He moved to face Snape in the same moment that Snape noticed Harry. Harry watched as Snape's eyes grew wide in recognition before turning to slits. His mouth tipped up in a snarl and Harry could almost feel the waves of anger emanating from Snape.

This was not good.

~

“You have read the files, have you not? What do you think it means?” Lord Accrington asked snidely. “This man has been preying on vulnerable students for over a decade and not one of you has ever noticed it. Not _one member_ of staff _in over a decade_ noticed.”

“It's a large school.” McGonagall tried, her feathers clearly ruffled by the attack and implication of her own failings.

“Then you should have had more staff.” Lord Wood stated without mercy.

“This has gone on long enough.” Lucius interrupted. “We are not here to lay blame on anyone, we are here to clean up a mess. As of this morning Severus Snape has been relieved of his duties and is forbidden from ever seeking placement here in the future.”

“You can't do that!” McGonagall cried out in alarm.

“Professor, we can.” Mr Vane stated, a frown on his face at how this meeting was proceeding. “As a matter of fact, we have, and if you continue in the manner you have been, I can assure you that we will be taking a hard look at your own actions concerning this debacle.”

“Hogwarts will be lucky to survive a scandal this size.” Lord Smith sighed in aggravation.

“Who were the students?” Dumbledore interrupted, scanning through the file. “This report doesn't mention them.”

“And it never will.” Lord Richmond replied harshly, a look of disgust on his face. “We are protecting them the way you _should_ have been.”

“Gentlemen.” Lucius said soothingly. “Let's not get carried away.”

~

“POTTER!” Snape bellowed the moment he saw Harry. Harry turned pale as Snape whipped out his wand. “You think you can get away with this? You think this is the end of it, boy?!” Snape hissed out before throwing a barrage of spells at him.

Students shrieked and jumped out of the way as Harry grabbed his own wand and desperately tried to defend himself. He no longer needed to know what the result was of the investigation, that was for sure.

“What?” Harry yelled back. “Like you got away with it?”

Snape made an incoherent noise filled with rage and Harry knew his spell work wouldn't be enough to save him. He watched in alarm as several spells sliced through the air in his direction and quickly dodged them before returning fire.

~

“The decision has been made. We have allowed Mr. Snape some time to collect his things before we escort him off the premises.” Lucius continued, already pulling out his pocket watch to check the time. “Let us take a break and cool our tempers as a few of us go check on Mr. Snape's progress. Lord Davies, Lord Woodcroft, if you will?”

“Certainly.”. Lord Woodcroft stated as Lord Davies nodded, both getting up and making their way towards the dungeons.

“I believe breakfast is still being served in the great hall.” Filius Flitwick piped up from where he had been sitting. “Perhaps we can stretch our legs while we get a light snack?”

“A fine idea.” Lord Spinnet agreed.

“Let us all go.” Mr. Hilliard added as he made his way towards the door.

~

It wasn't working! It wasn't enough! Harry was good at defence, brilliant at it really, but Snape was better. He not only had the advantage of age but also of experience and it was showing.

“What?” Harry taunted, already knowing it was a terrible idea. “You didn’t think fucking _my_ _mother_ was enough for you, you wanted to fuck my father too?” Harry yelled out before he was clipped by a cutting curse.

Alright, yes, Harry was fully aware of how stupid that was, but his best plan right now was to distract Snape enough that he lost focus and give Harry the opening he needed.

Snape’s rage seemed to grow impossibly stronger as he threw two red beams Harry’s way.

“Protego!” Two voices yelled out, covering Harry and dissolving the spells into the shield.

Harry looked over just in time to see Ron and Hermione duck out of the way as Snape threw a few spells their way. He quickly sent a few curses Snape’s way and was grateful for the distraction his friends had given because one of the two hit. Not that it helped in the least as Snape quickly brushed off the spell and turned his attention back to Harry.

“I'll put you in the ground for this Potter!” Snape snarled as he advanced on Harry. “I'm sure Black will like the company!” He sneered just as he yelled ‘sectumsempra!’ and Harry knew he would be too slow to dodge. He watched in horror as the spell got closer before he was tackled from the side and forcibly removed from the spell’s trajectory.

“Fuck!” Harry moaned, already getting up. “Thanks Ron.” Harry muttered, quickly giving Ron a hand up as Hermione distracted Snape long enough for them to get on their feet.

“No problem.” He grunted in pain as he stood up. “Let’s not try that again though, yeah?”

Before Harry could reply, and before Snape could try his hand again at killing Harry, Snape was disarmed and a multitude of voices called out over each other.

“Mr Snape!”

“What is going on here?”

“Protect the children!”

“Stupefy!”

Harry and Ron slumped on each other with a sigh as they watched Snape fall with a satisfying thud.

“Took them bloody long enough.” Hermione scoffed, giving the teachers and governors a look of pure disdain as she moved to hug them both. “I’m so glad you’re ok!” She said softly and Harry could already hear the small sniffles.

He sighed deeply and hugged them both tighter. “I’m ok. We’re ok. He’s out, he’s done.”

Hermione laughed wetly. “But you’re hurt.” She said as she leaned back and broke their embrace.

“You’re bleeding mate.” Ron said softly as he took Harry’s arm in his hands to get a closer look at the cut Snape had managed to land.

Harry sighed deeply. “Honestly, if this is all I got out of it, I’m bloody lucky.”

Ron snorted. “Considering, I think we’re all bloody lucky. Let’s get you to Madam Pomfrey.”

“No need, no need, I’m here.” The nurse announced as she gently took Harry’s arm out of Ron’s grip. “Why, Mr Potter, is it always you I find in these scrapes?” She asked him with a soft smile on her face. He knew she was trying for a bit of levity in the shitshow that was about to unfold and he smiled in return.

“Just my natural Potter luck, I suppose.”

~

“Sometimes broken things don't ever get a chance to heal.” Hermione stated as they all watched Snape being bodily escorted out of the school. It was barely half an hour later and they had all been checked over and declared healthy and whole, if not scarred for life.

“That would make sense if he ever wanted to heal.” Harry said, a fierce sense of justice enveloping him as he watched Snape leave. “His obsession with my mother.” Harry clarified when he caught Ron's look. “He never tried to get over her death, never tried to get over her or to speak with someone that could help him. Instead he spent all the years after her death trying to find her in the people around him. When he got old enough, he probably realized he could manipulate girls into falling for him. Making my mum fall for him and love him over and over again. He's not ever going to stop. For Merlin's sake, he saw me and wanted to destroy my father! That's not sane behaviour.”

Ron looked appalled. “I didn't realize that was why he did it. I mean, we knew he wanted to have sex with them because they kind of looked like your mum, but that's twisted.”

“At least he won't be able to do it here again.” Hermione piped up, looking away from Snape's long trek over the bridge. “And now we can be sure he won't ever try it with Ginny.”

“Ginny?!” Ron asked faintly, looking far paler than he had just moments before.

“She's a red-head similar enough to Harry’s mum that she was definitely an option. We won't ever know if he would have done it, what with how well known the Weasley's are, but she's his type.” Hermione stated, oblivious to the turmoil she had caused in her boyfriend.

“I'm going to be sick.” Ron muttered. Harry winced as Ron stumbled away from him, knowing that there was nothing in the world he could do to help erase that image from his friend's mind.

“Alright?” A strong voice asked from behind him before two strong arms wrapped around his waist. Draco.

“Not yet.” Harry replied softly, leaning against the body behind him and letting Draco take his weight. “Not for a while I think, but the hard part is over.”

“I'm sorry this happened to you.” Draco said softly as he wrapped himself more around Harry.

“I'm not.” At Draco's incredulous look he continued. “Ok, maybe a little, but if it wasn't for him I would never have found you. I think, right now, I'm more upset that you've lost someone important to you.” While Harry was feeling a barrage of things he couldn’t name right now, what he was feeling was mostly a strong sense of nothing. He was sure he would be feeling the full impact of the whole morning when he had more distance from the actual event but for now he was happy to have a false sense of peace. It was because of this peace that he also suddenly realized that Draco had known Snape for most of his life and therefore would have some effect on the man he loved.

Draco sighed and put his chin on Harry's shoulder, both of them turning back to see Snape's departure. “I don't know if I am upset. He's always been a little...difficult and I know my father had some mixed feelings about him too.”

“He still meant something to you.” Harry said softly. He felt Draco nod his head on Harry's shoulder.

“He did, but I'm not sure what that something was.” Draco replied just as softly, and Harry understood. Whatever else Snape had been, he had been a consistent person in Draco's life for a number of years.

“Well, I'm here either way.” Harry said in support as he wrapped his arms around Draco’s.

“Just like I'm here if you need me.” They lapsed into silence as they watched the crowd thin. “I caught him ranting and raving like a lunatic last night.” Draco confessed suddenly.

“Yeah?” Harry asked, almost lazily. It was easier to relax now that the excitement had died down and Snape wasn't a constant threat to him anymore.

Draco nodded. “I asked him what was going on. He told me how you had tried to seduce him and when he turned you down you went and complained to the governors.”

Harry snorted. “Of course he did. He tried to turn you against me?”

“He tried. He made a terrible scene, said some pretty horrendous things about you too.”

Harry frowned. “What happened?” He asked, turning in Draco's arms to see him better.

“I told him everything.” Draco replied with a shrug. Harry's eyes grew large and Draco rolled his eyes. “No, not _that_ everything, _our_ everything.”

“Oh.” Harry said with a relieved laugh. “Us.”

“Yeah.” Draco nodded giving Harry a look. Harry just smiled back.

“Didn't take it well, did he?” Harry asked already knowing the answer.

“Not even a little. I told him that his story was lie and I knew that because we were about to sign a bonding contract.”

Harry snorted in amusement even as he rubbed Draco's arms in comfort. “How are you even alive?”

“Father came through the floo.” Draco confessed with a small smile.

Harry shook his head. “Of course he did. What happened after that?”

“No clue. I got out of there as quickly as I could. I haven't had a chance to catch up with father yet and Severus has avoided me since. Hasn't even looked my way.” Draco confessed with a snort of disbelief.

Harry didn't have a chance to answer as Lord Desford, Lord Wenlock, and Lord Malfoy approached them. At Lord Malfoy's raised eyebrow at their intimate stance both Harry and Draco blushed before awkwardly parting. Harry didn't want to feel like Lord Malfoy dictated their relationship so he stubbornly grabbed Draco's hand as they turned their attention to the three men who clearly had something to tell him.

“What a terrible scene! And from a teacher!” Lord Desford said, clearly scandalized.

“Former teacher.” Lord Malfoy corrected, eyeing Harry and Draco's entwined hands. Draco squeezed Harry's in silent support even as Harry stared defiantly at Lord Malfoy.

“Quite. Luckily we caught him when we did. Now,” Lord Wenlock stated turning to Harry, “I'm sorry to say this young man, but the way he went after you leaves little to the imagination. You are very much in danger, especially since you're a Lord and still a minor. We'll have aurors stationed here for the time being. They'll be assigned solely to you when you leave the premises and periodically checking up on you throughout the day. We don't want to give him any opportunities after all, not after everything that has come to light.”

“Is that necessary?” Harry asked a little uncomfortable with the thought of anyone watching him consistently.

“Yes.” Lord Malfoy stated firmly. “He threatened you in front of witnesses and from all the evidence we have collected he clearly seems focused on you. Mr. Snape's threats alone are concerning, never mind his obsession with you. He just clearly demonstrated how easily that obsession could turn deadly.”

“Quite right, quite right. We'd rather have you alive Lord Potter-Black.” Lord Desford told Harry with a jovial smile. Harry tried to smile back but knew it came out as more of a grimace.

“As would I.” Harry sighed as he stopped trying to smile. “Of course I'll take the protection. Thank you.”

“Think nothing of it. Let's just hope it won't be necessary.” Lord Wenlock stated before the three of them made their excuses.

Considering what Harry knew and what he had planned, he knew it would be necessary. He just hoped he could bury Snape quickly enough that nothing would come of his threats.

~~~***~~~

“I'm sorry Harry, I'm not quite sure I understand what you're looking for here.” Remus said, a slightly confused look on his face as he placed down a cup of tea in front of Harry before sitting down with his own cup.

Harry took a deep breath. “I want to know your history with Snape. I want to know the history my father and Sirius had with Snape.”

“No, I understood that part.” Remus said, leaning back in his chair to observe Harry better. “I don't understand why you want to know it. It happened years ago, it's hardly important now.”

“I think it's more important than you think it is.” Harry stated wryly. “And even if it's not, indulge me. Sirius told me stories from his perspective, tell me some from yours.”

Remus hesitated. “They're not all pretty.” He warned.

“I don't want pretty anymore, I just want what you think is the truth.”

And wasn't that a statement. It had been a few weeks after Snape had gotten the boot and life had simmered down again. Harry had heard from Delia that while all of them had now been interviewed and their stories had been given the green light, the various reporters were now smelling blood in the water after Snape's firing and were trying to link the two together before going to print. The problem they were facing was Lord Potter-Black. They couldn't name Harry in the piece but they couldn't leave him out of it either since he was the spark that started the whole thing. Delia had told him they were consulting with solicitors to make sure that they couldn't be fined for what they printed. Harry felt like it was the calm before the storm and what he needed most was a reason. Why had Snape started this?

“The truth.” Remus sighed. “The truth is that Severus hated James just as much as James hated Severus.”

“When did it start?”

“I'd like to say the very beginning, but I'm not sure that's quite right. I'd wager that it happened around the time that James started to notice Lily, your mother.”

Harry almost snorted. He did know who his mother was, thanks. “Why was my mum important?”

“Because she and Severus were best friends.” Remus told him, clearly expecting some kind of shocked reaction by the way he tensed.

“I did know that, actually.” Harry said with a small smile.

“Did you know they grew up together?”

Harry choked on his tea. After he stopped coughing he glared at the werewolf. “You did that on purpose didn't you?”

Remus chuckled a little. “Marauder for life.” He said with a wink and a grin. “We just get slyer in our old age.”

Harry huffed out a laugh. “And I'm the son of one, are you sure you want to keep trying old man?”

Remus just laughed. “Snape and Lily were hard to separate the first year of Hogwarts. It naturally got harder to hang on to a friendship when those people went to other houses, but it wasn't impossible. You still see each other every day and Lily especially didn't want to have her first friendship die when they both came from the same place. That actually probably made it easier to keep the friendship alive.”

“So when did it change?”

“We were all so young.” Remus stated solemnly. “I'm not quite sure when it did, but fourth year there was a clearer divide between houses, between people. Voldemort was on the rise and making more noise, the purebloods were becoming bolder in their beliefs, and things were changing.”

“Dad noticed mum?” Harry asked.

Remus gave a small sad smile. “At first it was small things. A ‘hello’, ‘can I walk you to your classes, ‘sit with us Lily’, ‘let's eat lunch together’.”

“None of it worked?”

“We had about four years of terrible pranks behind us, of course it didn't work. Not to mention that your father was pureblood and had never been turned down before.”

Harry grimaced. “I think that's more than I wanted to know about that. So mum turned him down.”

“Never even gave him the time of day. The more she scolded him, the more he chased her. It infuriated Severus which just added to the fun.”

“When did it all go wrong?”

“About the time Sirius went crazy.”

“Crazy?” Harry asked alarmed.

Remus nodded, a far-a-way look in his eyes. “He told Severus about my condition, hinted strongly really, then lured him out of the castle and almost got him killed by the wolf.”

Harry gasped in horror. “He did what?”

“Your father saved his life.” Remus added with a small smug smile at the shock he was inducing in Harry.

“_What?!_” Harry gaped.

“Pulled him back at the last second. I'm not quite sure what happened after that, but I heard later they were all forced to secrecy and James, Sirius, and Severus had detention for the next three months and all their privileges revoked.”

“They weren't expelled?” Harry asked shocked.

“If they were expelled I would have been ousted and Hogwarts' reputation would have become tarnished. Who wants to go to school with a werewolf? Not to mention the safety of the students. It would have been a nightmare, students being pulled out, funding cut, who knows what else. This was the easiest option and one that allowed all four of us to continue our education and Hogwarts to remain as it was.” Remus explained as he took a sip of tea.

“So Snape hates me because dad saved him?” Harry finally asked after a lengthy silence. It was rather a lot to take in. He didn't know what he had expected to come out of this meeting with Remus, but this kind of history was not it. Maybe he believed he would get to know a little about Snape, find out at least a hint of why he targeted Harry this way. But _this_? This was more than he had bargained for and he was both appalled and immensely grateful for it.

“No, I believe he hates you because James finally got Lily to accept him. Having James save him just added to his ire.”

“How did that happen? You just said that she hated him.” Harry pointed out.

Remus nodded. “That's because she did. We were all arrogant, we played pranks on anything that moved, and we bullied her best friend. Not that he didn't give as good as he got.” Remus hurriedly added seeing the look of horror on Harry's face.

“So you...bullied each other?” Harry asked slowly, trying to make sense of it all. Bullied was a rather strong word and invoked images of Dudley and his gang chasing Harry. It wasn't what he had imagined his father doing during his years at Hogwarts, not even what he had heard from all those letters that had been sent back to him from his parents old school mates.

Remus sighed in thought. “No, I think Sirius, James, and Severus bullied each other. Severus because James wanted Lily, James because Severus wanted Lily, and Sirius because he could. That's not to say Peter and I didn't give as good as we got either. We were all culpable.”

“Was it always just Snape?” Harry asked, dreading the answer. So far Remus hadn't said anything to make him think that Snape's...displaced anger was...alright, not justified per se, more like understandable? Because yes, it made sense in twisted sort of way but it was also horrible because who goes out of their way to bully the child of the person who bullied you? A child that had never known you even existed and had no idea of your history with your father. A very dead father. Wouldn't his father's death have been some sort of...relief? There were far too many questions that Harry knew he'd never have answered.

“Merlin no!” Remus laughed, startled. “Snape wasn't a loner, he had his own set of friends that would curse and hex us just as often as we did them.”

“So when did it change?” Harry pressed.

“When Severus called your mother a mudblood.” Remus stated. Harry's jaw dropped in shock. Remus nodded. “It was after our exams and James was bored. Sirius loved to poke and prod and low and behold, there was Severus. They caught him off guard and humiliated him. Your mother stood up for him but the damage had already been done.”

“So, what, mum just walked away?” Harry asked in surprise. “Wasn't a very good friendship then was it?”

Remus sighed. “I never had the balls to ask your mother why she broke it off but I got the feeling this was just the last straw in a string of incidents. Don't forget that Voldemort was a persistent threat at this point and most of Slytherin had already signed on, Severus being one of them. A Voldemort supporter and a mudblood weren't destined to stay friends.” Remus said sadly.

“So that was mum's way of making a clean break?” Harry asked softly, wondering if he could ever do the same, if he wouldn’t have fought harder for someone he loved.

Remus shrugged. “I have no idea. Like I said, I never asked her. It was a bit of a sore subject for her, and James was just as happy to never mention Severus again.”

Harry sighed deeply and ran a hand down his face. “So he lost mum, was forced to watch her and dad fall in love and get married, only to hear about me. It still doesn't explain why he hates me so much.”

Remus stared at Harry for a while. “I can't answer that, Harry. The only person who could is Severus, and I don't think he ever would.”

Harry snorted. “No, I don't think so either but at least now I have a better idea of what motivated him to go to the lengths he did.”

“What do you mean by that?” Remus asked, frowning at Harry.

“He _hates_ me.” Harry said, not lying. He wanted to tell Remus everything but at the moment there were still several things in motion that could possibly be ruined if Remus said anything. If Remus did anything, like perhaps punching a certain ex-professor in the face after hearing what he had been doing to the son of his best friend? Yeah, he wasn't going to risk it.

Remus narrowed his eyes. “Which I already knew. The truth, Harry.” He demanded.

Harry hesitated. “I can't. And before you bite my head off I'd like to say I can't, _yet_.” Harry hurried on once he saw that Remus opened his mouth to object. “It's not just about me.”

Remus studied Harry. “Is it dangerous?”

“No.” Harry stated firmly.

Remus sat back and tapped his finger on the table. “Alright, but I'd like to know the minute you can say anything.” He warned Harry. “I may not be around a lot but I love you like an uncle and I would really like to still be in your life.” Remus stated earnestly.

Harry beamed at him. “Then let me tell you about my boyfriend.”

“Boyfriend?” Remus said in alarm. “What boyfriend?”

“It's a much better story than dad and mum's.” Harry said with a wide grin.

“Oh dear.” Remus stated weakly. “I think I need more tea for this.”

Harry gave him some firewhiskey instead.

~~~***~~~

“Harry?” Hermione asked hesitantly.

“Yeah?” Harry asked tiredly as he looked up from his homework. It was past midnight and he and Hermione were the only ones in the common room.

“I need you to tell me that I've gone too far down the rabbit hole and what I'm thinking is a crazy conspiracy theory that is so beyond crazy that I just...made it up.” She finished with a helpless shrug of her shoulders.

Harry furrowed his brows at her tone. “What's going on?”

Hermione sat down in front of him, arms on her legs and leaning towards him as she stared at him. She was chewing lip like she did when she was thinking hard or extremely nervous. “Remember the little bundle of plants you found in Snape's box?”

“The one we couldn't figure out?” He asked, vaguely remembering that he wasn’t going to put any effort into it because it wasn’t important or connected to the women.

She nodded. “It took me a while because there are a thousand different ways those plants could be used together, a thousand different potions, a thousand different outcomes.”

“Hermione. What are you getting at?” Harry asked gently once he noticed her nerves.

Instead of answering she reached into her pocket and pulled out a small muggle notebook. “I keep this because it's easier than parchment sometimes.”

“Ok?” He asked with a helpless look. Where in Merlin's name was she going with this? She jabbed the book at him and he took it, opening it to the page that had a bookmark in it and read what she had written down. “Hermione.” He said a little lost. He was honestly terrible at potions and having them jotted down like this without any kind of help at all was a nightmare.

Hermione cleared her voice before she tried to speak. “It's a poison, Harry.” She said slowly, bracing herself from something Harry couldn't even begin to imagine.

“So, what? He keeps a stash of plants in case he wants to commit murder?” He asked slightly incredulous.

“He doesn't need to do that. He's a Potion's Master, he could whip one up in his sleep if he wanted to, nevermind the constant access he has to all kinds of other, more questionable, plants.” Hermione said with a shake of her head. “Harry.” She hesitated, lifting one of her hands out to his before taking it back and clenching her hands together between her knees. “Harry, that box is for trophies.”

Harry frowned at her. She was acting a little bizarrely and it was starting to freak him out. “All the people he had ‘conquered’, hard to forget that.” He snorted. “So he doesn't keep it just in case he has to kill someone, but what? Because he already did?” He asked her. She bit her lip in response. “Hermione.” He said sternly. “That's not something we can just joke about. We don't even know who he could have killed, _if_ he did do it.”

“That's the problem, Harry, I think I do know who it was.”

“But you don't want to tell me.” He said, watching her carefully. “You don’t want to tell me because you know it will hurt me.” He guessed. Then thought about it. “The only person that could have hurt me was...was...Hermione?” He asked, looking up at her and swallowing thickly. “Hermione, please tell me you don't think its Sirius.”

“Harry,” she said gently, “I think its Sirius. I think Snape poisoned Sirius before he came after you. I think he planned it all down to the last detail and you were his crowning glory.”

Harry stood up far too quickly and startled both of them. “You just said those plants could have a thousand different combinations.” He almost yelled at her. “You just said there were a thousand different potions, a thousand different ways they could be used together!” He brandished her notebook at her. “This doesn't mean that it's true!”

A single tear fell from her eyes. “Then why do you believe me?” She asked quietly as she looked at him with heartbroken eyes.

“I can't believe it!” He screamed at her. “I can't! I _won't_! He's dead and gone, this doesn't _change_ anything! Even if this was true, how could we ever prove it? There's no evidence Hermione! What was the point of telling me?”

“Because you need to tell me I'm making it up!” Hermione screamed at him, jumping up from where she was sitting and getting right in his face. “Tell me I'm imagining this! Tell me because I don't want this to be true!” She sobbed out before falling back into the chair and curling in on herself as Harry watched her. “Tell me I'm crazy.” She begged him through her tears.

“Why else would he have kept this.” Harry stated brokenly, staring up at the ceiling to keep his tears at bay.

The silence stretched so long that that it felt almost brittle.

“Do you think we'll ever know the truth?” Harry asked softly.

“I think,” Hermione finally started once she gained control of her emotions, “that even if we brought it up now it wouldn't help. Sirius is long gone and any evidence was erased with his death. There's no way to ever know for sure.”

“He wouldn't have kept this without a reason.” Harry said softly, brokenly.

“It could have been anyone.” Hermione whispered, her eyes begging Harry without ever having to say the words.

Harry smiled so sadly that Hermione started crying again. “It could have been anyone.” He repeated, finally breaking down and collapsing on the floor as sobs wracked his body. He felt Hermione's arms surround him as his world fell apart.

_It could have been anyone._

~~~~~~

“It's not enough.” Harry stated evenly as he faced Hermione, Ron, and Draco. He had dragged them all into an unused classroom before spelling the room in secrecy spells and charms. He didn't want anyone hearing this.

“What isn't?” Hermione asked even as she looked as if she already knew the answer.

“It's not enough that he lost his job, that the women are going to curse his dick off and exile him. I want him completely destroyed.” Harry demanded with a glare that wobbled.

“Harry...what happened?” Ron asked, completely lost and more than a little worried about his best friend.

“He murdered Sirius.” Harry said brokenly.

“Who did?” Draco asked in alarm.

“Snape. Snape murdered Sirius.” Harry said again, taking a deep breath and trying to centre himself again. He could do this, he could talk about this without falling to pieces.

“Are you sure?” Ron asked, suddenly alert.

Harry closed his eyes. “There's no proof. There's no evidence left behind, no trail to follow, no obvious motive.”

“So what do you have?” Draco questioned softly, his eyes jumping from a far too quiet Hermione to a devastated Harry.

“A bundle of plants and a grudge.”

“Harry...” Ron said softly, hesitantly. “That's nothing.”

Harry laughed brokenly. “I know. I do, I know, but I still have a story and a hatred that lasted beyond death. I have a dead godfather and I have my gut telling me that I'm not wrong.”

“Harry, that's...that's dangerous to even be saying. No matter what he did with all those women, what he planned to do to you.” Draco hesitated. “That's a long way off from murder.”

“How would you even find proof?” Ron asked.

“You said you have a bundle of plants?” Draco inserted quickly, throwing Ron a dark look for even a hint of not believing Harry. Ron rolled his eyes at the look.

“It was in his box.” Harry clarified. “With the letters from the other women. We called it his trophy box. We didn't know why it was there because the only other things in there were letters and pictures. Hermione thought it must have been important if it was in there. She figured out what they were. She-we-it just-we hoped it wouldn't make sense, but it does. It does, it makes so much sense.” Harry ground out, tears in his eyes even as they shone in determination. “He did this, he did this and he needs to pay for it.”

“Alright Harry.” Draco said gently, holding onto Harry's hands to calm and sooth him. “What do you want to do?”

“I want him to never be able to work with potions again. I want him...I want him _unable_ to ever work with potions again.” Harry stated, his body trembling with rage and grief. “I want him to suffer, I want him to regret his life every single day for as long as he lives. I want him miserable. He's not allowed to get away with this.” Harry said imploringly as he looked at Draco, squeezing his hands and pulling him closer. “He _can't_, Draco, he _can't_ get away with this.”

“Ok Harry.” Draco replied as he wrapped Harry into a strong hug. “We'll make him pay. We'll make sure he won't get away with this.”

“We will?” Ron asked. Draco glared at him. “We will.” Ron amended quickly. “How will we?”

Hermione rubbed her face and sighed before looking up. “There's one sure fire way that will likely end horribly.”

“Which is?” Ron prompted.

“We let Harry be kidnapped by Snape.” She said simply, albeit reluctantly.

“That's...fucking insane!” Draco hissed out, insulted that Harry's best friend would even think of it.

“Well...” Ron started hesitantly. “It's not that crazy.”

“How is it not crazy? The man has decades of experience under his belt and his only goal in life is currently to make Harry pay for his father's sins. There's no way that this would ever be considered a good plan.”

“Never said it was a good plan.” Hermione pointed out helpfully. Draco glared at her.

“It can be a good plan though.” Harry finally piped up.

“How?” Draco demanded. “By making you vulnerable? By making you a target for his rage? By allowing him to take you to another location, somewhere we probably can't get to and where you most certainly will not have any help?”

Harry grimaced. “No, by making sure we have a plan. By making sure I have something on me that you can track. By having the aurors on stand-by so you can catch him before anything happens.”

“Harry, even one minute in his presence might be too much.” Ron cautioned. “He's a Potion's Master. All he would need to do is to throw a potion at you that would be absorbed by your skin. Merlin, he wouldn't even need to throw it if all he needed was to touch you with it.”

“See! Even the weasel is making sense!” Draco angrily stated, waving his arms in aggravation.

“Oi!” Ron seethed out. “Watch yourself blondie!”

“Draco.” Harry said softly. “He's going to get me at some point. Would you rather it happened with a plan in place or that he catches us all off-guard and something happens to me?”

“That's low.” Draco said with a glare. “Of course I don't want anything to happen to you.”

“So help me. Help us. Make sure we have the best plan in place in case things go wrong.” Harry implored his boyfriend. “_Please_.”

Draco closed his eyes and clenched his teeth. “Fine. But only as 'just in case' scenario, not an actual plan.” He warned.

Harry nodded. “Ok.” He said as he leaned in and gently pecked Draco on the lips. “Thank you.”

“So.” Hermione stated softly once Draco was distracted. “This is an actual plan, yes?”

“Yes.” Harry said watching Draco growl at something Ron said.

“He's going to be so angry with you.” Hermione warned him.

“I know.” Harry sighed out.

And he did. If this went the way they would plan, Snape would still have time to hurt him. Despite Harry's best intentions, he knew that would have to be part of the plan as well. He had to get hurt so that Snape believed he had the upper hand. He also knew that what Ron cautioned him was a high-risk situation. If Snape did use a potion on him then he was likely as good as dead.

Harry, however, was going to rely solely on the information he had gained from Remus. Snape would want something up close and personal, something that would enforce the idea that he had finally gotten one over on James Potter through skill and brains. That he was, and would always be, the better option for Lily Evans.

Harry was hoping for a miracle, knowing he trying not to plan his death. He could only hope Draco would forgive him for this.

~~~***~~~

It was something of beauty, when the article that came out. Dealing with the latest revelation of how truly dangerous Snape was had taken up enough of his time that he had simply forgotten that the article was even coming. Seeing it now, in daylight and surrounded by all four houses and teachers alike? Triumphant. He had glanced over the article and then sat back and watched the resulting chaos. Watched as the teachers went through a variety of emotions, watched as the students tried to assemble the information about their most hated teacher. Watched as the older years threw judgemental and questioning glances at the head table while wondering if it could have happened to them.

It only occurred to him later, before the article had even come out, that maybe this would harm Hogwarts’ reputation and for a while he was upset with himself. He loved this place like a home and didn't have any ill wishes towards the first place he had ever considered himself safe. He didn't like people tearing it down like it meant less than nothing, like it was just a school. It wasn't, had never been and if it were up to Harry, it never would be. He was a Lord now, twice over, and he would make sure the school survived this.

What he hadn't counted on was the scrutiny the staff were getting as a result. As he had pointed out in his interview with the school governors, Snape had been doing this for years and no one had noticed. Now the public was asking the same question: how was it possible for no one to notice? Teenagers aren't, mostly, that great at hiding something as big as love. They tell their friends who whisper and giggle and make it obvious. How had the staff missed it? How was Snape able to continue year after year after year? Where was the staff during that time?

It had resulted in another inquiry into how the school was run and Harry was astute enough to know (even without Hermione discussing it with them) that most of the staff would probably not survive to the following year. Harry figure that Dumbledore and McGonagall were certainly out simply because of their stations (Headmaster and deputy headmaster respectively) and thus had the most blame on their shoulders. Harry idly wondered if the whole Remus-as-a-werewolf-almost-eating-Snape disaster would be unearthed even as he understood a little better why Dumbledore had chosen to keep it quiet. This whole situation had turned the school upside down.

Harry didn't regret it a single bit though . He regretted it even less after the follow-up articles about Snape and his manipulations when the women had gone into more and more detail about how exactly he had managed to capture their hearts. It sickened Harry to his core and felt no sympathy for the teachers that could have helped but didn't.

“Harry.” Hermione said, nudging him with her elbow and jolting him out of his thoughts.

“Hm?” He hummed distractedly.

“You have an owl.” She said, a hint of laughter in her voice.

Harry looked over the top of his newspaper and saw a disgruntled owl staring back at him. He gave an apologetic smile and quickly untied the letter. He had hoped to give the owl some bacon but got clipped in the head by its wing instead. He grunted in annoyance as he opened the letter.

“Fuck.” He said lowly but with feeling as he read it through.

“What?” Ron asked, perking up at the thought of more chaos for Snape.

“Tomorrow's papers are going to be a treat, that's what.”

Ron rolled his eyes. “They have been for the past few days.”

“Are you going to tell us?” Hermione interjected before Harry could retort.

“When haven't I?” Harry asked as he raised both eyebrows. Hermione opened her mouth but hesitated as she thought. “That's what I thought.”

“Git.” She muttered sullenly.

Harry snorted but ignored the comment. “Raina owled me.”

“Raina?” Ron asked puzzled.

“One of the women Snape...” Harry trailed off, still finding it difficult to say the actual words even though the majority of the Wizarding world now knew the truth.

“Seduced?” Ron hedged.

Harry gratefully nodded his head. “Close enough. Anyway, she wrote me to say that they confronted Snape in Diagon Alley.”

“What was he doing there? He's barking mad to go there after all of this.” Ron said as he gestured to Harry's paper.

“She doesn't say but I figure the bank, it's the only thing that would make him leave the house. Nevermind that though, it gets better.” Harry said as he saw that Ron wanted to say something. “So they saw him and confronted him.”

“Wait, they saw him? As in they were waiting for him?” Hermione asked looking a little confused.

Harry nodded again. “Yeah, they told me earlier they would stake the place out and inform the others when, or if, he got there. Well, he did and they did. So they started yelling, he started yelling, the people watching started yelling, and before anyone knew what happened, people started throwing hexes.”

“Oh boy.” Hermione huffed. “That's not going to end well.”

“It didn't. Raina said it was a real mess, several people had to go to St. Mungo's and the fight got really out of hand. They had to call in aurors apparently.”

“So why is she telling you this?” Ron asked.

“That's the best part. In all the commotion they got the chance to curse the hell out of him.”

“They did?” Hermione and Ron asked simultaneously.

Harry nodded happily. “They cursed his dick off.”

Ron spluttered. “They _what?!_”

“Oh that's a good one.” Hermione said amused.

“A good one?” Ron turned to her, a little green around the gills.

“Well of course! What else are you supposed to do with someone like Snape? You can't expect him not to try his luck elsewhere and the women deserve their own brand of punishment for his crimes. If you can't take the consequence, don't do the crime.”

“Pretty sure that's not how the saying goes.” Harry told her with laughter in his voice.

Ron just grimaced. “Remind me never to get you angry.”

Hermione ignored him and turned back to Harry. “So that's it? That's their revenge done?”

Harry turned back to the letter and nodded. “Looks like. They ruined his reputation and spread word that he was ‘undesirable’ so nobody here will ever hire him. He's done for.” Harry sighed as he looked at his two best friends. “Just me then.” He said, the laughter dying out.

Ron and Hermione looked at him with sympathetic eyes. “Just you.” Hermione stated softly.

“You want to start planning this? Get it over with? Once Snape figures out what they did, he'll be coming after you.” Ron warned him.

“I know.” Harry nodded, a weight on his shoulders. “I don't think he'll wait long either, not with the amount of anger he'll be feeling once he does figure it out.”

“So.” Hermione stated, looking from Harry to Ron. “Let's get this done.”

~~~***~~~

Harry came back to consciousness with a start. A pounding start because his head was killing him and he wasn’t sure where he was. He forced his eyes to open only to be met with a dank wall. Well. That wasn’t much was it? At least he did know that he had been kidnapped, that was something. Not that it necessarily helped him now, but already knowing who had kidnapped him and why was helpful enough for Harry brace himself for what was coming. Plus, now he could activate his emergency distress beacon that he, Ron, and Hermione had made for him for jus this very occasion. All he had to do now was stall for time.

“Awake yet, you _pathetic_ excuse of a man?” A voice asked from behind him, startling him since he had believed he was alone for the moment.

He was doomed.

“I think you’re confusing me with yourself.” Harry said with a groan as he moved to get up.

He should have known better, did know better, than to aggravate someone as dangerous as Snape currently was, but being knocked out had apparently lowered his brain-to-mouth functions. Harry had barely caught a glimpse of Snape’s enraged face before a loud snapping sound filled the space between them and Harry _screamed_.

“Not so arrogant now, are we?” Snape smirked as Harry writhed in pain.

“Yeah, that’s right.” Harry panted out between gritted teeth. “Throw spells at the helpless, that’s going to give your ego a nice boost.”

Harry really should have kept his mouth shut because what came next marked him for life. He had only ever read about the unforgivables, only ever read about the effects the cruciatus curse had on a person, the after effects of prolonged exposure. He had never once, not in a million years, thought he would ever be under it himself.

He didn’t know when he started screaming, didn’t know when he stopped feeling his broken arm, didn’t know where the pain started because the _pain_ was _everywhere_. Thousands of white-hot knives slicing through him like butter, his nerves were on fire, his breathing strained, his heart beating out of his chest. There was so much hurt, so much damage, that it took him several minutes to even notice he wasn’t under the spell any longer.

“Keep talking Potter.” Snape taunted him gleefully. “Please, give me more of an excuse.”

All Harry could do was suck in air. All Harry could do was cry. All Harry could do was hang on long enough for them to find him.

“Was this your plan all along _boy_? Trap me into a relationship and then turn the Wizarding world against me?” Snape spat at him, ignoring the panting boy at his feet. Snape clearly had a few things to get off his own chest, questions he knew only Harry had the answers to. It was probably the only reason Harry was still alive, for the moment at least.

Harry snorted weakly in derision even as he fought through the pain of torture. “If that was my plan, I would have never made it so easy for you. No, I figured it out early enough to do something about it but too late for me not to have had feelings for you.”

“You could have never known.” Snape stated dismissively, even though he was clearly interested in what Harry was telling him.

Time. Harry needed to buy some time. He would be all right, he would come out of this fine, just as long as he came out of this _alive_. He just need some more time.

“And I didn't. Until one night I decided I was ready for more and went down to your rooms. I made myself undetectable from anything and everything and to my great surprise, you walked in with Lucius Malfoy.” Snape frowned, clearly trying to figure out the ‘when’. “It was there I found out that Draco didn't actually hate me, that Lucius hated your ‘games’ and that everything you had been doing to me was all part of a plan to get back at my father. My _dead_ father. All so you could continue to fuck my _dead_ mother.” Snape's rage grew with every word. “While I was there, listening to your every word, your sick plan for me, you dropped a name. Do you remember?” Snape simply glared at him. That was obviously a ‘no’. Either that or he simply didn't feel like playing along. “No? You said I overlapped with Blakely and that at least you had gotten to fuck her a few more times before she left school.” Harry watched as Snape's eyes flickered in thought. He gave no outward sign, but Harry figured he had finally understood exactly when Harry had put it together, which conversation with Malfoy senior it had been. “All this time.” Harry whispered. “Just to get back at a dead man. Just so you could keep a dead woman you never really had in the first place.”

Snape gripped his wand and Harry tensed, his eyes focused on Snape’s face while his attention was on that deadly wand. Or maybe it was just Snape who was deadly?

“That was quite some time ago.” Snape said in a deceptively soft tone, eyes narrowed in contemplation. “That’s why you brought up your father, why you started to drift away from me.” He confirmed to himself, a swift nod of acceptance. “I suppose you found Blakely?”

“You asked why I had gone to McGonagall, remember? When I sent all those letters to my parent’s friends?”

“You were looking for her full name.” Snape said with an unkind smile. “Well, well, well. Aren’t you clever?” He asked, making it very clear that he didn’t consider Harry clever at all.

Harry knew without a doubt that he was running out of time. Snape was playing with him, that much had become clear. He wasn’t interested in a fair fight like Harry had hoped, he was here to clean up a mess. To settle a score. To bury a Potter with a Black, just like Hermione had hypothesized when they figured out what Snape had done.

“And Sirius?” Harry asked, a need to _know_ warring with the need to buy more time.

“Yes, _precious_ Black.” Snape smiled viciously. “I heard his death was especially difficult.”

“You did it, didn’t you? You murdered him.” Harry asked him, a grief-like rage building in him, giving him back the strength he had lost under the cruciatus curse.

Snape smiled at him with all teeth. “Prove it.” He laughed darkly. “Prove it!”

“I know you did it!” Harry screamed at him. “I know! I saw the plants, I know what they were used for!”

“I am a Potion’s Master.” Snape stated smugly. “Black’s death was just what he deserved, a slow painful fight that was designed for suffering. The dementors curse is vile.” He said with mock sadness, glee shining out through his eyes.

Harry saw red. The implications of what Snape had said, how thrilled he was by spitting it back in Harry's face made something break in him that he had thought unbreakable.

For years to come, he would always try to remember exactly what happened next but for the life of him, it remained stubbornly blank. One minute he was drowning in rage, the next he was standing over an unconscious Snape with his wand in his hand and his breathing laboured.

His body shook with after effects and his arm was so numb a part of Harry worried for the consequences, but all he could do was stand. All he could do was look upon the man who had torn his world apart just because of a school rivalry.

He didn’t know when he started crying, didn’t know when he fell to the floor, didn’t know when the aurors came because he wasn’t there anymore. All he saw was his father. All he saw was his mother. All he saw was Sirius slowly dying because one man couldn’t let go of the past.

Why? Why? _Why_? What did Snape want to prove? What could Snape possibly have wanted in all of this? Why had he chosen Harry? What did he have to kill Sirius? Why did he take Harry’s one chance at a real father away? Why had he ripped Harry’s world apart without a single thought?

“Harry?” A female voiced asked softly. It sounded like someone he knew, sounded like she was afraid of him. “Harry, can you hear me?”

He knew that voice. “Ar-Ara-Arabella?”

“That’s right Harry, it’s Arabella. Are you with me?”

Harry took a deep breath and focused on his surroundings. Aurors were all over the place. Three of them were bent over Snape, two of them were prowling around the room while another two were having an intense conversation just inside the door. Huh. There was a door.

“How-?” Harry started to ask before he noticed how dry his throat was and started to cough.

“Easy now, Harry, easy. Your two friends, Ms. Granger and Mr. Weasley alerted the aurors. I happened to be nearby when the call came in.” Arabella explained as she rubbed his back in a soothing gesture. She barked at someone to get some water before turning her attention back to him. “Draco won’t be pleased with you.” She stated with a small smile.

Harry looked at her in confusion. How did she know Draco? “Snape?” He asked instead, knowing that he was the important one right now.

“We’ve got him. He won’t be getting away with what he did.” Arabella informed him before someone else joined her.

“Lord Potter-Black? My name is Gerrant Richflaw, I’m a healer with St. Mungo’s. Can you tell me what happened here?” The man said softly even as he turned Harry to get a better look at him.

“Broke my arm when I woke up. Put me under the cruciatus.” Harry said shortly as he closed his eyes. He heard when all movement stopped, the silence so heavy he could feel it.

“He used an unforgiveable?” The healer whispered, horror coating his voice. “We need to get him back to St. Mungo’s, I don’t have the potions for this.” Richflaw stated to someone Harry couldn’t see. He opened his eyes and watched as people suddenly hurried around him, Richflaw walking to what he assumed was the auror in charge so that he could move Harry.

“Is it over?” Harry asked Arabella softly.

Arabella turned her attention to Harry. “Yes Harry, it’s over now, you got your revenge.” She told him, no softness in her voice, nothing placating him, just the hard truth that she knew she would have wanted in his place.

It was over. It was finally over and Harry could breathe again. So he did. He took a deep breath, and then another, and another, before suddenly his breaths were far too short and he was gasping instead. His heart was hammering when two strong arms picked him up and held him close. Tears tumbled out of his eyes as he finally gave in and broke.

All those months of hurt and pain and revenge. All those months of anger and hatred. All those long months of being on edge and the secrecy, it all came tumbling, colliding, crashing down. All he had left was sadness and grief. All he had left was a broken heart and a broken bone. He would never regret what he had done, how far he had gone. He regretted what was done to him and the manner in which he had to go about getting revenge. He regretted never really knowing why Snape had held on to his grudge for so long, why he had chosen Harry.

If he had murdered Sirius.

It would have to be enough that Snape would never be able to work with potions again. It would have to be enough that Snape would never see the light of day again. That Snape would never again taste freedom.

“Come now Harry.” Arabella said, gently helping him stand on unsteady legs and steering him out of the room. “Time to go now.”

Harry was present enough to notice when she threw a curse at Snape’s prone body when the aurors where otherwise occupied. Knew enough to know he should keep it to himself. All he cared about was getting back to Draco now. All he cared about was making sure Ron and Hermione were all right. All he cared about was outside of that room.

It was over. It was over. _It was over_.

~~~***~~~

“Hey Hermione?” Harry asked after their exams were over and they all had some time to decompress before heading home.

“Yes Harry?”

“What spell starts out blue and ends in purple?”

Hermione looked puzzled at the question. She hummed in thought. “Most spells that change colour are experimental in nature or start out benign but change over the course of time.”

“So… a time curse?” Harry guessed thoughtfully.

“Could be, but like I said it's also experimental so it could just as easily be something along the lines of a watering system for plants. Most of the base magics are the same colours like the disarming spell so anything that has more colours tends to be of the newer variety. Not that that means that's how all spells work. She stated quickly. I mean, just the science behind it is fascinating.”

“Science?” Harry asked, raising his eyebrows.

Hermione rolled her eyes. “It's easier to use than saying the history of it compiled with all of the nuances that make up spell work, not to mention the magic involved.”

Harry chuckled even as he nodded. “That makes sense, though I don't particularly want to hear all about it.” He told her in a warning tone.

“Why do you ask anyway?” Hermione asked with a grin. She knew full well he wouldn't have wanted the full history and took perverse pleasure in telling him anyway.

“Hm? Oh, it was something I saw in on of the Auror reports while I was at there after Snape attacked me. It stuck in my brain is all.” Harry replied with a careless shrug.

It had bothered him for a few days after the kidnapping and attack. He'd never seen a spell quite like that and his curiosity had kicked in. Draco had banned him from doing anything other than schoolwork while he was recuperating and he didn't want to shine any lights on what Arabella had done so going to the library was firmly out of the question. That had left Hermione.

His question still remained though. What curse did Arabella throw at Snape? Truth of the matter was that Harry wasn't particularly bothered. He was interested, but he didn't want anything to come to light. Not only because they would discover his own personal curse, but he didn't fancy getting her in trouble for getting her own back just after he had done the same thing. After everything that had happened she deserved some piece of mind, no matter how she had gotten it.

It also made something itch in the back of his mind.

~~~***~~~

Walking into Lord Malfoy's private study three months later made Harry almost sick with nerves. Too bad for his nerves though, because he wanted answers.

“Has Draco forgiven you yet for your stunt?” Lord Malfoy asked, only slightly amused, once he caught sight of Harry.

Harry sighed deeply. “Yes and no. He's upset I got hurt but he was more afraid for me and can't forgive that it happened.”

“So you are still fighting.” Lord Malfoy deduced, finishing his paperwork and leaning back in his seat to observe Harry.

Harry shook his head. “No. We discussed the situation at length and he's implemented his own brand of punishment until he feels I've learned my lesson.”

“Do I want to know?” Lord Malfoy, the father of his betrothed, asked with a darkening look.

Harry snorted in amusement, knowing exactly what he was thinking. “It's nothing like that.” He said as he pulled out a thin chain from beneath his robes.

“A necklace?” Lord Malfoy asked in confusion.

“A tracking charm, amongst others.” Harry informed the other man before tucking it away again.

“And how is that punishment?” Lord Malfoy questioned, clearly confused.

Harry pursed his lips. “I have a problem with being monitored and he knows this. For us to get over this, I agreed to it. If this is what he needs, then I'll endure it.”

Draco's father gave him a firm nod, acceptance of not only Harry's sudden maturity but also that Harry was willing to make concessions so as to not damage his relationship with Draco.

“How long did you know?” Harry asked, changing the subject as he sat down.

“That Severus was bedding the image of your mother or that he had plans to ruin you?” Lord Malfoy questioned, getting up from behind his desk. Harry raised his eyebrows and kept quiet. Lord Malfoy huffed. “I never quite put it all together until you came to Hogwarts. At first it was letter after letter from Draco filled with childish disappointment and resentment that you hadn't chosen him.”

Harry tilted his head as he thought about that. “He made you realize I had come to Hogwarts, that with Snape's past, I would be on his radar.”

Malfoy inclined his head as he poured himself a drink. “Indeed. When months passed with no word about you from Severus...I wondered. I learned from Draco the extent of his vitriol against you and I figured that would be the extent of it, even if the man never mentioned you. Something that...worried me personally.”

“Until Sirius.”

“Until Mr. Black. He had not spoken of you once in three years, yet suddenly you were all he spoke of, ranted about really. You and Mr Black both. He seemed to imagine your father and Mr. Black had come together once more. I thought him delusional.”

“And when Sirius died?”

“He became silent. And seemed to...quietly gloat when Mr. Black's name was mentioned. I had my suspicions but I knew nothing would ever come of it. Severus was always a clever man.” He stated wryly.

Harry gave him an empty smile. They would never have proof that Snape had anything to do with Sirius' death and there had been no clear evidence of it, but Harry would always have his beliefs on Snape's guilt. “Quite.”

“He joined us for Christmas during Draco's fifth year and I noticed the change then. He had become his relaxed self, seemed practically joyful actually. I was his confidant and he couldn't wait to reveal his plans. Plans for you.” Lord Malfoy stated as he walked towards Harry with two generously filled glasses.

Harry frowned as he accepted his drink. “That doesn't seem very much like him.”

Lord Malfoy laughed lowly. “No, it doesn't. He gave me titbits that night, teasers of what he was doing. It took me months to pull the whole thing out of him, though I put the pieces together faster than he knew.”

“Draco?” Harry asked, already knowing the answer.

“Draco.” Lord Malfoy confirmed. “He had stayed back after a lesson and caught Severus reaching out to stroke your cheek. It disturbed him enough that he left in a hurry and reported this odd behaviour to me. He thought Severus was poisoned.” Lord Malfoy deadpanned.

Harry snorted. “All those potion fumes of course. When did you realize I knew the truth?”

Lord Malfoy sighed deeply and looked into his now empty glass. “I don't think I ever really did. When I met you outside the bank I hoped. The hope grew when you asked to court my son, but the true hope I had was when I gave you that picture of your mother and Snape together. I figured no one had ever told you they had known one another and this would cause you to ask questions. I could have never guessed the outcome.”

Harry laughed derisively. “Did you expect me to believe that?” He asked with a pointed look as he took a sip from his glass.

Lord Malfoy watched him with calculating eyes. He leaned back and crossed his legs, a man of power once more. “Perhaps.”

“You already knew of his games. You already knew of his particular tastes. Snape is not a man to share, so you must have had some kind of angle or blackmail- no, no blackmail, he would resent you for that. Maybe a chance meeting where you didn't express any disgust and didn't report him. Maybe told him you shared his predilections?”

“We shared an acquaintance.” Lord Malfoy said, an air of amusement about him, though he refused to say anything more on how he gained Snape's trust.

“One of the women then. Not young though certainly not old. I'd say mid-twenties.”

Lord Malfoy inclined his head. “Arabella.”

Harry closed his eyes and sighed deeply. “Family.” He stated. Malfoy's wouldn't do this for any other reason than family.

“A cousin through marriage. We have always been close to the family as Narcissa had always wanted a girl.”

“You saw them together?”

“No, I saw Severus with a girl who looked remarkably like her a good five years after the fact. She had changed dramatically after her graduation and it always left us wondering. It took some time, but I managed to fit the pieces together.”

“Did she know you knew?”

“I confronted her.”

“And told her of the revenge plot.”

“I told her it would take time.”

Harry laughed suddenly, the final pieces coming together at last. “She's the one that told you about the meeting, she's the one that told you about my mother. You're the friend that helped put the plan together. The man who was practically an uncle.”

Lord Malfoy simply smirked. “Arabella got her revenge, though perhaps not in the way she would have liked, but something that was satisfying enough for her to finally put the past behind her.”

Harry rolled his eyes but said nothing. He would never tell anyone about the spell he had seen Arabella shoot at Snape, not now at any rate. While vile, Snape sleeping with the image of his mother wasn't worth dying over, not for him in any case. Murdering Sirius though? Well, Harry never claimed to be a good person, not after the Dursley's. Not after Snape.

“And Narcissa?”

Lord Malfoy frowned at Harry. “What of my wife?”

“Did she know?”

“No.” Lord Malfoy stated shortly. “She knew of the changes in young Arabella but as Arabella had begged me to keep silent, I never said a word.”

“So when she started talking about my father and Sirius during that luncheon?”

“A coincidence.” Lord Malfoy snorted. “A fortuitous one, as it turned out.”

“Does she know now?” Harry pressed, wondering what his future relationship with Draco’s mother might look like.

“Only the details that are already known. What do you intend to do?” Lord Malfoy asked Harry, those calculating eyes still on him.

“I intend to marry Draco.” Harry replied with a dangerous smile. “Preferably in the spring because he likes that best. Not too hot, not too cold.”

Lord Malfoy's mouth pinched slightly. “About the information.”

Harry stared hard into the other man's eyes. “We're family now, Lucius.”

He hummed thoughtfully. “So we are, Harry. Draco would have been devastated if anything were to happen to you.” Lucius stated with a smirk.

Harry smiled back, as innocently as possible. “Why Lucius, why ever would you assume that it would happen to _me_?” Lucius froze for half a heart beat before he moved again.

Harry raised his glass and smirked at the other man. “To family.”

“To family.” Lucius echoed softy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it :)  
Thanks for reading!


	4. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeahhh, it's a little a lot late, but hey! It's here!
> 
> Ignore the notes at the end because I have no idea how to get rid of it *aggravated sigh*
> 
> It's short, it's sweet, and I hope you guys like it :)

“Draco, son, I'm only asking you to reconsider. You have years yet, I simply don't understand why you have the urge to marry now.” Lucius said, looking sternly at his son. Said son was less than impressed with his father's words.

“You've been saying that ever since Harry proposed and frankly father, I'm tired of it. I've waited more than my fair share of years for this day and I'll be _damned_ if I let anything get in the way of it. Even you.”

“I'm merely pointing out that you have plenty of other options. Astoria looks lovely today.” Lucius continued on as if he hadn't seen Draco's thundering looks. “And her sister too. Lovely girls.”

“Please tell me you're not trying to get me to change my mind the day of my wedding, while I'm putting on my wedding robes and after all the work I've put into this.”

“Nonsense! It would be next to no effort to exchange that Potter boy for one of the Greengrass women.” Lucius stated blithely, very clearly now ignoring the death looks he was getting from his son.

“Father.” Draco growled warningly. “If you intended to see the end of this day in perfect health, I strongly suggest you _shut_. _UP_.”

“I was only suggesting-” Lucius tried in what Draco assumed was supposed to be a soothing manner.

“Suggest it to someone else. Harry is _mine_ and I _will_ be his husband. And,” he stated with a severe look his father's way, “if I hear that Harry has suddenly had a change of heart, I'll be sure to make your life a living nightmare. Voldemort who?” Draco finished lightly.

Lucius let out a long forlorn sigh and took a long sip of his drink, wisely choosing not to answer in the face of certain death.

To others it may have seemed like an excessively aggressive response but it had been a long road for him and Harry. It may have been his fault the first few years but the years after that were very much Harry's fault. Although 'fault' may be a little harsh since it had been neither of them that had started the whole thing to begin with. Besides that, it had been more of a chaotic year, the first year they were actually officially together. Coming together, getting over all of their respective hurdles before declaring that this was it for the both of them.

It was a relationship like all others in that respect. What wasn't usual was Severus. Or to be more precise: Severus and the fallout of the century. Draco may admit he was being a little dramatic (he did have Black genes in him after all, it came with the territory) but considering they were still asking about it to this day said more than he ever could on the subject.

Harry had asked about it a lot in the first few years, how he was feeling about Severus and what he had done, what he had been doing for years, and Draco never had an answer for him. He had been shocked at first, angry that his godfather, someone he trusted implicitly, would have lied to him like that. Would have interfered in his relationship just because he wanted Harry for his own twisted games, his own sense of revenge on people long since gone.

What he would never tell Harry, what he _couldn't_ tell Harry, was that he felt very little for the women. He had no attachments to them, had no feelings of resentment, of justice served. He felt disgusted by Severus' actions, without doubt, felt for how he had be-spelled the women, but at the end of the day it had (and always would) come down to Harry. He was furious on Harry's behalf. That Severus had dared to even come between them, that he tried his best to ruin their future. That Severus had tried to take Harry from him. That he had tried to take everything from Harry without Harry even knowing what that something had been. So no, he didn't hate Severus, not in the way Harry did, but he did harbour a certain amount of anger and resentment towards him.

Did he miss Severus? He missed the person he used to be in Draco's memories. He missed the godfather he had been, the man who had been kind and who had been like a distant uncle you were fond of. Draco didn't miss him enough to mourn Severus himself. The man had gotten exactly what he deserved for putting his Harry through that hell. In all the years they had been together, their one big fight had been about Harry letting himself be kidnapped and tortured. And for what? Revenge? It hadn't been enough for Draco. The scales had not evened out once Severus had been sentenced to Azkaban. It was the one time they had almost broken up and Draco resented Severus for it. Would have killed the man if they had.

No, at the end of the day Severus wasn't even a passing thought anymore. Draco refused to bring him up and invite even his memory back into their lives. They had gone over all of it in their seventh year. Had new teachers and councillors to help the students through the transitions, for those students who needed more emotional support than they were getting. Draco had made Harry go with him, made him talk about all of it. He made Harry give it a place in their lives so he could look back on it but not be drowned by everything.

Merlin, seventh year had been hell. He still marvelled that they had even gotten through it. Then took heart that if they got through all of that, together, then they had a strong fighting chance to make it all the way. Forever. Because he was damned if he wasn't going to get Harry at the end of all of this.

“Right then.” Theo said as he walked into the room, looking at over a parchment he had in his hands and forcing Draco back to reality. “I've sorted the food, the flowers, the table arrangements, and I've gotten the musicians to start setting up. The officiant will be here within the next few minutes and guests have been arriving as scheduled.”

“Thank you Theodore.” Draco said with a sigh of relief. His gaze cut to his father. “At least someone here knows how to be helpful.” Lucius merely rolled his eyes before he eyed the firewhiskey in the corner.

“I'd bloody well be helpful, I'm the best man.” Theo said as he puffed up his chest in pride. That was one of the things he liked about Theo. The man was incredibly focused and able to set everything into motion with the least amount of hiccups and he was damned proud of that fact. It also helped that he actually wanted to help Draco plan his wedding, unlike Blaise whose only question had been if they were both grooms, would there still be bridesmaids?

Draco snorted. “You assigned yourself to the best man.” At Theo's slightly hurt look he quickly continued. “Not that I wouldn't have chosen you myself of course. You just beat me to it. Nevermind that though, what's left to be done?”

Theo hummed suspiciously at the change in topic but let it drop as he looked over his parchment. “Mrs. Malfoy is looking after the cake and the refreshments for after the ceremony and the female Weasley is taking care of the ceremony arch. That's it really.” He checked the time and looked back over the parchment. “I'll go check that all the guests have made it and get them situated. When I return, you'll have ten minutes before you'll be a married man.” Theo said in a happy tone.

“How's Harry? Have you seen him?” Draco asked, trying not to sound too eager but already knowing he was a lost cause. He had always been a lost cause for Harry.

Theo rolled his eyes but looked impossibly fond. “I've seen him and he's here, on time and dressed. He's waiting with Granger, Weasley, and the wolf he insists is family.”

“Bloody Granger.” Draco mumbled darkly.

Theo pretended he hadn't heard. “You might want to finish up yourself while I check on everything.” He said with a pointed look towards Draco's forgotten tie.

“I believe that that is my job.” Lucius stated as he went to grab the tie.

“Why?” Draco asked sourly. “Are you going to choke me with it until I cave and comply to your wishes?”

Lucius tsked. “Of course not. You are my favourite son. Potter on the other hand...” He trailed off with a devious smile. Draco huffed but smiled back at him. “Now, I have heard that there is a certain tradition in telling one's offspring about what they should expect from their marriage.”

“Do I really need to hear that?” Draco asked skeptically, a small pang in his heart for Harry who would never have that, didn't have that today of all days.

“Probably not.” Lucius reluctantly relented. “Nevertheless, you shall hear some pearls of wisdom from your favourite father.”

“Only father, unless you have a confession to make along with those pearls of wisdom?” Draco asked jokingly.

“Even if there was another man who thought to claim you, he'd be long buried and you would never know.” Lucius said softly as he wove Draco's tie together.

Draco just smiled at the threat. Whatever else anybody said about his father, it had always been about family for the man and it was something Draco had not only understood but now very much put into practice with Harry.

“Alright then, shower me in wisdom.” He said magnanimously.

“First of all, protect your own money.” Lucius hushed him before he could voice his outrage. “Yes, I know you already had a prenuptial agreement, on my urging, but having a vault of your own that is not shared with your spouse allows you a certain amount of freedom in your spending that you shouldn't have to account for.”

“Meaning what?” Draco asked testily. It was just another way that his father had shown he hadn’t accepted Harry, even after all these years. Harry didn't seem to mind, even found it amusing to Draco's bewilderment, but Draco very much wanted them to get along. He wanted them all to be a family. It was important to him.

“Meaning that you are perfectly reasonable to have a joint account but you must also realize that you are still your own person who earns his own money. You needn't share everything if you intend a lifetime commitment.” Lucius continued on, ignoring his son’s tone in favour of saying what he needed to say.

“I'm not sure if I should be angry with you about that, but as it so happens I've already had this conversation with Harry.” Draco said, finally relenting and letting his tension go.

It wasn’t even a lie. Draco had felt incredibly uneasy and a little afraid when he had approached Harry with the prenuptial agreement. To his surprise Harry had read it over and signed it without even a word. That had prompted them into several discussion about money and how they would go about dividing their assets. They hadn’t been stupid and they hadn’t gone into this with blinders on.

“Oh?” Lucius asked in a falsely light tone.

“Surprisingly enough, he agreed with you.” Draco said lightly as he glanced in the mirror to make sure his father wasn’t ruining his wedding robes. Lucius tried to smile and Draco tried not to grimace at the resulting face he made when he looked back at his father’s expression.

“How lovely.” Lucius stated as he fiddled with Draco's tied tie.

Watching his father, watching how intently he was playing with the tie made something finally click in his brain.

“Father.” Draco said softly, emotion filling his voice as he looked at the man who still was his personal hero. “I'm getting married, not dying. I will still see you every week and come to you if I need any advice. You won't lose me.”

Lucius scoffed. “Of course I won't lose you, you are my son.”

“And you are my father.” Draco replied.

“Well.” Lucius stated as he finished pretending to tie Draco's tie, ignoring how thick his voice had become. “As long as you remember that.”

“Do you really not like Harry?” Draco asked softly, letting his insecurities come out now that he had solved one problem. He still hoped it wasn't true, but knowing his father it was always a possibility and today he really wanted to clear the air, wanted to seal any kind of rifts between them.

Lucius hesitated. “Harry and I have made our peace some time ago. I do not dislike him. Too much.”

“But? I hear a hesitation there.” Draco prodded, not showing how important the answer was to him just in case it gave his father any ideas.

“I have a personal belief that he's dangerous and it causes me some worry about you.” Lucius stated carefully, looking into Draco’s eyes to show his sincerity.

Draco furrowed his brows. “You think he's a danger to me?”

“No.” Lucius disagreed. “I think he's a magnet for danger and you might be hurt as collateral damage. I also believe that Harry would do his utmost to keep you safe and happy, which is incidentally the only reason I'm letting him Bond with my heir.”

Draco smiled widely. “I knew you liked him.” He said as he wrapped his arms around his father, ignoring his father’s spluttered muttering’s of how Draco clearly hadn’t listened to a word he had said.

It was something he had learned from Harry, hugging. Something that always seemed to shock his father which only made him all the happier to do it. Although, looking up at him now it seemed like today was an exception to the rule.

Theo cleared his throat, his ears a little red in embarrassment. “That's most of the guests then. This is your ten minute warning.”

“Most of the guests?” Draco asked shrewdly, reluctantly parting from the hug.

“Well, a few last minute cancellations. Apparently the new Mrs. Monroe decided today was the day to go into labour, and the Yaxley boy has a bout of some disease I didn't ask about, and of course there's um, Pansy who isn't here yet, but that's hardly more important than your grandmother failing to floo in on her allotted time. Caused quite the stir, I'll tell you. There was shouting and I'm positive she hit the minister with her handbag.” Theo chuckled nervously.

“What about Pansy?” Draco asked, narrowing his eyes dangerously.

Lucius, clearly seeing storm clouds, interrupted before Theo could reply. “I believe I hear my wife calling me. Must need help with the...arrangements. I'll be back shortly, Draco. Try not to resort to murder if you can.” He added wryly.

“Now you listen to me.” Draco stated with a deadly calm that visibly terrified Theo. “I've had to wait for this day for five years because _Granger_,” he sneered, “convinced Harry that it was too soon. I've had five years to plan this thing and it will be perfect. So when I asked you if Pansy was here yet, all I wanted to hear was a 'yes'.”

“I understand, it's just that she decided she couldn't watch you get married.” Theo said as he shrugged his shoulders helplessly.

Draco nodded. “Of course. Totally understandable. _IF IT WASN'T MY FUCKING WEDDING!_ I don't care what it takes, you get that bint in her front row seat! Imperio her for all I care!”

“What's with all the yelling?” Blaise asked, wandering into the room with a drink in hand and a relaxed composure that irked Draco to no end. Theo's eyes grew large as he tried to motion to Blaise to run. Blaise frowned questioningly at Theo. “What?”

“Pansy isn't here.” Draco growled.

“Of course she isn't. You didn't really expect her to be, did you?” Blaise asked while Theo buried his head in his hands.

“YES! It's my wedding! A wedding I've been planning for five years! _FIVE. YEARS._ It has to be perfect and if I want Pansy here she will bloody well be here! Now _go_. _GET. HER_!” Draco screamed, fully _done_ with people who didn’t want his wedding to turn out as perfectly as he had planned. He would bloody well delay the whole thing until she was here if it came to that.

Theo quickly shuffled Blaise out of the room and towards the nearest fireplace with floo access.

“What happened? What was that? Has he gone crazy?” Blaise asked, clearly still stunned.

“I don't know, he just exploded when he heard Pansy wasn't here yet.” Theo said quietly as he looked around to make sure that Draco hadn’t followed them out.

“Why would he even care? He's been avoiding her for years.” Blaise pointed out in confusion. It wasn't even a well-known secret, it was just known. Everyone knew Draco avoided Pansy like the dragon pox. It was why his wedding was discussed so much in society. Why invite someone you clearly despised?

“You know,” Theo started, frowning as a thought popped up, “there's only one thing in the world that would make Draco lose his senses like this.”

“Harry.” They both stated, looking grim.

“I think the more important question is why Harry would want Pansy in the front row at his wedding.” Blaise said.

“One way to find out.” Theo replied as he grabbed some floo powder.

~~~~~~

“You're fine.” Draco said soothingly as he pulled Harry into his arms for their first dance.

“She bloody hexed me!” Harry muttered outraged as he let himself be led by Draco.

“She missed, you big complainer.” Draco replied with a beaming smile.

“You'd complain too if she hexed you with a permanent broken cock.” Harry said grumpily, trying to shock Draco while also trying to convey how offended he was that Draco wasn’t taking this as seriously as he was.

“_Tried_ to hex you.” Draco corrected soothingly. “Besides, isn't that what you wanted?”

Harry looked incredulously at Draco’s happy expression. “What? I _wanted_ her to hex me? Are you drunk?” He asked suspiciously, searching Draco's face for any obvious signs of inebriation.

“No.” Draco rolled his eyes. “You wanted her to watch you marry me so she would always know she never stood a chance.”

The only reason Harry hadn't frozen in shock was because Draco kept them dancing.

“You...you remembered that?” He whispered, his eyes wide and staring at Draco like it was the first time he was seeing him.

“Of course I did.” Draco replied with a smug smile, somehow pulling Harry even closer while they danced.

“Merlin I love you. This was the best idea I ever had.” Harry stated, affection clear in his voice as he leaned in to kiss Draco.

“You're just lucky I said yes.” Draco chuckled through the kiss.

Harry laughed brightly and went to answer when he noticed a bushy haired missile coming his way.

“Harry!” Hermione squealed as she dragged him into a tight hug and displacing Draco as a result. Draco was less than pleased.

“Did you see? Hermione, she tried to hex me!” Harry exclaimed, noticing Draco's glare at Hermione for interrupting them but ignoring it in favour of having someone empathize with him.

“I did see! Noticed those auror moves in action too. Lucky your boss was here to take her in otherwise it could have gotten out of hand.” Hermione said with a proud grin and a pat on Harry’s shoulder.

“What do you mean ‘could have gotten out of hand’? She hexed the groom!” Harry stated incredulously as Hermione pulled him into a dance.

Out of the corner of his eye he noticed Draco and Ron suddenly realize that if their respective partners were dancing, then it only made sense that they would too. To Harry's great amusement he could almost see their thought process. Both of them very much did not even want to touch, but Harry was important to both of them so they wanted to try to get along, but they very much didn't want to touch. It was entertainment enough that he almost stepped on Hermione’s foot.

“Sure, but no one else was hit and you got her down and out quickly enough that Shacklebolt could take her in.” Hermione pointed out helpfully, although how helpful that was Harry wasn't sure. Why did no one seem concerned about how close she had gotten to actually hexing him?

“And what if she had hexed me?” Harry questioned, the indignant tone creeping back into his voice.

“Then we would have found a counter before the day was over.” Hermione countered logically, giving him a pointed look. “Now, stop thinking bad thoughts and enjoy the party!”

Harry huffed. “You're only saying that because you're pregnant and you want some cake.”

“I’m only three and a half months, you can’t even see anything. Besides, cake is made by the gods and should be appreciated every chance we get.” Hermione stated primly, taking the opportunity to use Harry to twirl herself.

Harry rolled his eyes and smiled as he twisted her out before pulling her back in as her twirl ended. “Of course we do.” He replied even as she laughed in delight.

“I believe it is tradition for the parents of the grooms to cut in first.” Lucius said icily from behind, glaring down at Hermione who only smiled sweetly in his direction.

Harry glanced over and almost doubled over in laughter at the clear relief in both Ron and Draco's faces. If he ever wanted to torture either one of them, he now knew how to do it. They hadn't even attempted to dance, they had just stood there in awkward silence.

“Does he know how that sounds?” Hermione asked as she worried her bottom lip, glancing worriedly at Harry's face to make sure he wasn't upset. Lucius and Narcissa had been distracted by an irate Draco who was speaking quietly to both of them and looking none the happier for it.

Harry snorted having taken no offense. “No. It took a while, but I finally got where Draco gets it all. It's just how they are, they really don’t mean anything by it.”

“Harry dear, would you mind doing me the honour?” Narcissa asked before Hermione could utter another word, gliding over to them and looking like a vision and leaving behind her son and husband.

He smiled softly at her. “Not at all.” He said, as he turned back to Hermione and lifted her right hand before bending over and placing a kiss just above the back of her hand. “Thank you for the dance.” He stated formally as his eyes shown with warmth.

Hermione curtsied and bowed her head, showing reverence to someone of his station before standing and grinning at him happily. She gave Narcissa a polite nod and turned away, giving the two of them space. Watching her grab Ron by the hand and dragging him into a dance, he almost laughed out loud as she gave him a last wink over her shoulder. There was a reason she was one of his favourite people.

He had barely even started to dance with Narcissa before Draco had come over, Lucius close behind him.

“Mother, may I finally dance with my husband now?” Draco asked stiffly, cutting in. Harry looked over and noticed he was more annoyed than he should have been.

She laughed merrily and leaned over to kiss his cheek, not even offended that she hadn't even gotten to dance with either groom just yet. “You may.” She told her son before grabbing her own husband and demanding he dance with instead.

“You ok?” Harry asked softly as he pulled Draco back into his arms. It had barely been two minutes and Draco was already out of sorts. Knowing Lucius, it had probably been his fault, but knowing Draco, Harry was sure it was simply because their dance had been interrupted.

“No.” Draco pouted. “This whole day is supposed to be about us and you keep getting pulled away by other people. You're mine now, they need to keep their hands off.”

Harry smiled stupidly at his husband, loving everything about his other half. “Merlin I love you.”

Draco huffed out a laugh. “I get jealous and possessive and you melt. That's not very healthy in a relationship is it?”

Harry shrugged carelessly. “Probably not, but it works for us. We're not being overbearing about it, not causing anyone harm with it or each other. We can call it a kink if it makes you feel better?” Harry asked, watching Draco's face for hints of what he was thinking, if this was too serious for the lovely day Draco had planned for them.

“No.” Draco sighed with a smile as he pulled Harry in all the way and rested his forehead against Harry's. “I think we just don't mention it to other people.”

As they slowly shuffled together Harry couldn't help but feel incredibly lucky. Not just for how his life had blossomed into something incredible, but also for the man in front of him. It hadn't been easy, not in the least, and they had been close to breaking up that first year so many times that Harry had started to wonder if they would even make it. But they had made it, they had fought through all of the issues that had come from the Snape debacle and made promises to each other that they still stuck to today. No big lies. Don't ever hide how you're feeling, no matter how big or small you think it is. Always be safe. It doesn't matter if you get hurt or injured just as long as you come home. Trust that we're both in this together and that you can rely on me to be there for you when you need it.

It had been bloody hard work but they were here, they were married now. This wasn't a new start, this wasn't a new beginning to their relationship, wasn't even the start of something new. This was the promise that through all the bad, terrible, and frankly horrible days ahead of them, that they would always choose each other. This commitment meant choosing each other, even when the good was only good, even when the bad made it all worse, even when he couldn't stop grinning at how incredibly lucky he was to have this amazing man in his life. This was Harry choosing Draco each and every day. Always.

“Hey Draco Potter-Black?” Harry asked with a mischievous grin.

“Yes Harry Malfoy?” Draco parried back with a happy smile and a raised brow.

“Can we now tell your father he's responsible for getting us together?”

**Author's Note:**

> Hope the choppiness didn’t bother you too much
> 
> Onto some seriousness. Revenge might be a beautiful thing, but apparently I suck at thinking of something good. I mean, I’ve got some ideas, but nothing I’m sold on so if you guys have any suggestions, lay them on me! The more the merrier!
> 
> Thanks for reading and let me know if I should update the tags in any way!


End file.
